Just another day at the job
by Steelwall5
Summary: Judy and Nick finally get their first big case after the events of the movie. The simple murder case ends up going much deeper than they expected and leads them on a hard path that brings them closer together. Rated T for mild swearing, violence and romance which contains adult themes.
1. Chapter 1

**Note:** First of I own nothing and all rights are reserved by the creatures of Zootopia. Second, if my story is similar to anyone else's in this archive I do apologize, I haven't gone through most of them so I don't know what has already been written. Still I hope you enjoy this first chapter to my story and please leave a review to let me know what you think. Constructive criticism is welcomed.

* * *

 **Two moths after the events of the movie**

A familiar red sports car was parked on the side of the road just in front of a police SUV. Particularly, the SUV assigned to officers Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde.

"Flash, Flash, hundred yard dash." Nick said shacking his head with a grin on his face. "Keep this up and you'll have a hundred speeding tickets faster then you can get out of the car."

"Sorry... Nick... buddy... I... just... can't... help... it... some... times." Flash said in defense.

Nick chuckled. "Had I car of such speeds I'd probably do the same. Must be why carrots doesn't want me driving."

Flash slowly took the ticket from Nick while he waited patiently. A few quick taps from an impatient rabbits foot caught Nick's attention. Still holding the ticket and waiting for Flash to take it he turned his head to face his partner. She had her arms crossed and a had grumpy facial expression.

With that same grin Nick asked. "What's the rush carrots?"

"We're on patrol here. We can't spend an hour on something that shouldn't take more than 10 minutes. What if we're needed else where in the mean time?" She complained.

Nick placed his paw on his chest. "As a dedicated police officer it is my duty to make sure that justice is served. Which means making sure this young mammal gets his speeding ticket no matter what I have to go through to make sure I give it to him."

Judy was very annoyed by this. Mercifully Flash finally got hold of the ticket. She sighed in relief, but this was short lived.

"Sorry... again... buddy... for... speeding... It... will... not... happen... again." Flash apologized.

Judy felt like ripping off her own fur, it would probably be less painful then waiting for this to end. Nick leaned on the car and it seemed like he was about to have a conversation with Flash. Judy acted quickly and pulled him away and towards the SUV.

"Sorry Flash, but we have a job to do." Said Judy as she got into the SUV.

"See around Flash." Nick said and got in as well.

"See... you... guys... "

At this point the SUV sped of into the road as fast as it could.

"... around... as... well." He still said waving slowly goodbye.

"You did that on purpose." Judy said unamused by Nick's actions. "And don't say it was your duty as a cop."

"What did I do wrong?" Nick asked lifting his hands up in defense.

"You could have just placed the ticket on the car _for_ him and you know it. Plus you were about to have a _conversation_ with him." She said irritated.

Nick laughed watching his frustrated little bunny partner complain, paying special attention to how her nose would twitch. He had to admit that was pretty cute. She tried to calm down even though her partner was having a good laugh at her expense.

The rest of their days patrol was uneventful and quite boring. Nick's every attempt at some fun or amusment was shot down by Judy. She made it clear that they were on the job and had no time for games. They drove the SUV back to the headquarters and got a few of there things before heading home. Nick waited for Judy by Clawhauser.

"The whole day was just driving around. I'm telling you if that car didn't at least have a radio I'd have already died of boredom." Nick said to Clawhauser who listen to the whole story.

"Well you know shes achieved great things in the past so shes got a reputation to live up to. That's why shes always so _uptight_." Clawhauser rationalized.

"Your probably right." Nick admitted.

"Hey Nick, ready to go home?" Asked Judy happily.

"I'm always ready when it comes to quitting time." Nick mused.

"Hold that thought." Said a mammal everyone new as chief Bogo.

"What's the matter chief?" Asked Judy.

Nick on the other hand was a bit annoyed by being held up, though he tried to hid it.

"I know it's late but I have a case for you two. It's been _awhile_ since you had one." Said the chief.

"Really? What's the case? We'll take it." Judy said without a second thought, excited about finally getting a real case again.

"Oh come on. Who breaks the law just before sundown?" Nick complained.

Clawhauser nodded thinking it was an interesting point. Why not just wait till after dark?

"Regardless of when the law is broken it must still be enforced." Stated chief bogo. "We have a possible homicide in Tundratown on Frost street."

"A homicide?" Nick asked surprised.

"We're on it sir." Judy said ready to take on the task.

"Good. We already have a forensics team on the way to investigate the crime scene." Chief Bogo informed them.

On the drive to the crime scene Nick remained oddly quiet which didn't site well with Judy. She new how he looked like when we was silenced from boredom, but this was different. He seemed, nervous.

"Nick, you okay?" She asked curiously.

"Yeah! Yeah, I'm fine. Just didn't bring a jacket or anything for the cold." Nick said with a nervous chuckle, not for a moment making eye contact with Judy.

"If you say so." Judy wasn't convinced, but left it at that.

They reached the crime scene, got out of the car and walked over to a few other officers standing close to a covered up body.

"Officers Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde." Judy announced to them showing her badge.

"This way officers." Said a panther in a lab coat and motioned them to the body.

"How bad is it?" Asked Judy looking at the covered up body.

"Claw marks on the forearms and chest, a few bruises on the face and a cracked skull which we believe was the killing blow." Explained the forensics officer.

Nick bit down on his lower lip and whispered to himself. "Never let they see that they got to you."

"What's that?" Judy asked lifting an ear in his direction.

"Nothing important." Nick lied and put on a fake smile.

"The victim had no ID on him, but his species is a leopard in his Mid twenties." Stated the panther.

"He must have been in a fight that went bad." She said and was about to lift up the sheet that covered the animal.

"Whoa! Okay, is it really necessary to take a look at the body? I mean what can we find that they haven't?" Nick asked struggling to keep his fake smile.

Judy got up and looked at Nick with an eyebrow raised. "Mr. umm..." She looked at the panther.

"Call me Jack." He said trying not to pay attention to Nick's reaction.

"Okay Jack. What animal do you think did this?" Judy asked peaking at Nick with her ears raised.

"We can't say precisely what species it was, but from what we can tell it's from a medium sized predator." He said looking at some papers he took out of his pocket.

Judy looked around the crime scene for anything that could be a clue to what happened. "Was the body found here?"

"Yes."

She nodded and walked down the ally way. "Come on Nick." She called him.

He followed trying not to look at the body. They made it to a dumpster and saw that the snow next to it had fresh paw prints moving in all directions. Nick opened up the dumpster and looked inside. He immediately retracted his face and covered his snout.

"Phew! Is there another body in here?" He shook his head trying to regain his senses.

"What's in there Nick?" Judy asked.

"Give me a minute." Nick covered his snout and looked inside again.

He didn't find anything of interest and closed the dumpster. "Nothing useful."

"Darn it. Guess we'll have to wait for forensics to come back with an ID and a species match for the attacker." Judy crossed her arms, disappointing with the lack of evidence.

"So can we leave now?" Nick asked somewhat in a hurry.

Judy looked at him still curious about what his problem was, but decided it would be best to ask on the way home. "Sure Nick. We can go now."

They were almost back home having spent the drive in silence. Judy couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Nick, why were you acting so strange at the crime scene?" She asked with a bit of concern.

"Was I? hadn't noticed." Nick responded looking out the window.

"Come on Nick, I'm serious." Judy said seriously.

"It's nothing carrots." Nick insisted.

Judy tried a different approach. "Alright, will this effect your ability to take on this case?"

Nick took a moment to think about the question, mostly because he didn't see it coming. "I be fine. You can drop me off here, it's closer to my apartment than the HQ."

"Nick I didn't mean to..." She tried, but was interrupted.

"It's fine, really. I just want to get home after an extra long day."

Judy stopped the car and let Nick get out, regretting her previous question. He said good bye and so did she. She then drove back to the headquarters alone thinking of all the ways that she could have handle that to create a better result. ' _Dumb bunny.'_ She thought.

When Nick got to his apartment he went for the fridge to get himself something to eat. He placed his phone on the counter, looked inside the fridge and took out a salad. He took a peak at his phone half expecting it to ring with the picture of his partner displayed on it. He waited but not even a text came through. Maybe he should be the first to say something.

He got an idea, it wasn't something he normally did, but it could make sense in the current circumstance. He picked up his phone and typed a text message to Judy.

 **"Got home safe, let me know when you do."**

Satisfied with what he did he sat down to eat his salad. About 5 minutes later a text came through. He dropped his fork and quickly picked up his phone to see what she said.

 **"Just got home. Glad to hear you made it back safely."**

Nick smiled, he may have not given an explanation for his behavior, but at least he let Judy know he wasn't mad at her. He wonder if he should give her an explanation. Maybe tomorrow he thought, she was someone he could trust and that wouldn't judge him

* * *

 **08:12, ZPD headquarters**

Judy walked into the forensics lab where Jack and a few others where busy working on the evidence they found on the body. The body itself laid on a large metal table only half covered up.

"Morning Jack, got anything or me?" She asked looking around the lab.

"We've been able to identify both the victim and the species of his killer." Said the panther standing on the other side of the body.

"His name is Roy Carnivorous and his killer seemed to have been a wolf based on the claw marks." He explained.

"Alright, we got a name. Anything else you can tell me?" She asked.

"The blow to his head was definitely from a hard object, sadly no weapon was found at the scene of the crime. We didn't find anything to suggest he fought back so he may have been caught by surprise." Jack explained.

"Okay, I'll do a search on the name. Let me know if you find anything else." Said Judy.

"Will do officer Hopps." Confirmed Jack.

Judy went over to her cubical and saw Nick sitting at his which was located right next to hers. She walked over to him and noticed that he was busy on a social media site.

"Nick, what are you doing?" She asked wondering why he didn't join her a moment ago.

"Waiting for you carrots. So what did you get on our victim?" Nick asked.

"Roy Carnivorous, suspect species is a wolf." She stated, wondering if she should ask why he was waiting here.

"I'll get right on that carrots." He said and started typing away at the computer.

Judy sat down in the chair by her cubical and turned on her computer. She turned her attention to Nick. "Hey, about last night. I didn't mean to doubt your ability to do your job."

Nick stopped for a moment, still facing his monitor. "Not a problem Judy. I'm just..."

He sighed and looked around to see if anyone else was around. "It's not the first dead body I've seen on the streets. Just the first I haven't seen murdered in front of me." He admitted.

Judy's mouth dropped and she placed her paw in front of it. "I'm so sorry Nick. I didn't know." She said sympathetically.

He finally looked at her. "It's okay Judy, I'll get over it. We should probably get back to work."

"Sure." Said Judy, slowly turning back to her computer.

Soon after Nick Yelled in success. "Got him! Roy N. Carnivorous, Engineer at the climate wall. Has no wife or kids, but does have an adopted brother who is a Lynx. That's probably why he was in Tundratwon."

"They are adapted for the cold. Right, we'll go to his brother first and then to his job." Judy suggested.

"let me just get a jacket. Fur or no fur, that place gets cold and we might be there the whole day." Said Nick and went over to the locker room.

Judy rolled her eyes, Nick might have had a rough life, but he always kept his spirits high.

* * *

 **09:23, Tundratown, home of victims brother.**

 ****Judy and Nick walked up the steps leading to the front door of the apartment building. Nick pressed the button for room 12 and waited for a response.

"Who is it?" Asked a female voice.

Judy raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said he had a brother?"

"That's what the records told me." Nick shrugged.

He then spoke into the microphone. "This is officers Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps from the ZPD. We'd like to ask Charlie Carnivorous a few questions."

There was a buzz sound and the front door was unlocked. The two officers went inside and up to room 12 where Judy knocked on the door. The door was unlocked and opened by a male lynx in his mid twenties.

"I assume your here cause of Roy." He said plainly.

"Yes." Said Judy.

"Come on in." He opened the door fully and stood by it as they walked inside.

"Hello officers." Greeted a female lynx.

"This is my wife, Gwen." Stated Charlie and closed the door behind them.

Judy took out a note pad and asked. "When was the last time you saw Roy?"

"Just _yesterday_. It was his day off and he decided to stop by for a visit. didn't think it'd be his _last_." He struggled to say.

His wife came over to comfort him and took him in her embrace.

"What time did he leave?" Asked Nick trying to avoid any awkward silence.

"He came at one in the afternoon and left at about half past three." Said Gwen rubbing her husbands back.

"We believe he was killed by a wolf. Do you know of anyone that might have wanted to do this?" Judy asked still writing down the previous answer.

"Not that I can think of. He only ever came to Tundratown to visit us, so I wouldn't know who else he might have come across." Said Charlie regaining his composure.

Nick thought for a moment. "Judy, did jack tell you the time of death?" He asked her softly.

"No, but he was found in the middle of the street at about 5. Which means he was still around here for another hour and half at most. I'll text Jack and ask him." Judy said and got out her phone.

"Thank for your time Mr. and Mrs Carnivorous. We'll find who did this and bring them to justice." Nick said professionally.

"Thank you officers. We appreciate it." Charlie said cracking a faint smile.


	2. Chapter 2

**Note:** Thank you all for the favs and follows. Here is the second chapter where the awaited and expected fluff starts to begin. Hope you all enjoy.

* * *

 **09:51, Tundratown, climate wall**

Judy rubbed her arms felling the bulk of the cold as she and Nick were standing at it's source. It was a magnificent structure that must have taken years to build and billions to fund the project. Never mind what the cost is just to keep it running two different extreme temperatures at the same time over two vast districts.

"Cold, carrots?" Nick asked amused by her shivering body.

"Me? P-please, I-I can handle any-thing." She said between shivers.

"If you say so. I was willing to give you my jacket. But since you can handle yourself." He teased her.

"Well, n-now that you mm-ention it." She tried.

"No no. You made it perfectly clear that you can do this on your own." He said with a sly grin.

"That d-doesn't m-mean I wont accept h-help from my partner." She stuttered, putting on a smile.

"I don't know, it would be going against your tough personality." He was really enjoying himself.

"Do you want me to b-beg?" She asked with pleading eyes and her ears dropped down behind her head.

Nick rolled his eyes and gave in. "No need carrots. Here you go." He removed the jacket and gave it to her.

She put it on and snuggled in it enjoying the warm feeling. The jacket nearly covered her whole body. "Thanks Nick."

Finally a large musk-ox came to them by the entrance. He held a file in his hoof and asked. "What can I help you officers with today?"

"We're investigating the murder of Mr. Roy Carnivorous. One of your employees." Judy said.

"Oh yes. I got the call this morning. Yes he was one of ours. If you want I can get you his records." He offered.

"That would be great sir. Do you know if he hung around here in his free time?" Nick asked starting to feel the cold himself.

"No, but his co-worker might. Wait here and I'll get him along with the records." Said the musk-ox and went back inside.

Nick rubbed his paws together and blew his warm breath onto them. He was already feeling the cold with the jacket, but now he was slowly starting to freeze.

"Nick, are _you_ cold _?_ " Judy mused.

"Of course I am. That's why _I_ brought a jacket." He stated.

"I'd like to help, but I just don't think I can give back this nice _warm_ jacket." She loved getting back at him.

Nick smiled. "You know, there's a way we can both stay warm."

A bit skeptical she asked. "And what's that?"

He got behind her and wrapped his arms around her, snuggling as he did. She got a light blush with his sudden and unexpected action, but didn't fight back. In fact she kind of liked it.

"This is your idea? Don't you think it's a bit unprofessional?" She asked.

"Not really given the circumstances. Besides, this is supposed to be done naked and I _professionally_ skipped that part." Nick said with that same sly grin.

If Judy wasn't blushing before, she definitely was now. She had no idea how to respond to that, mostly because of the image of them doing this naked came to mind. She quickly shook it off before it got stuck in her mind.

Soon after the musk-ox came back with another file and a moose at his side. The two took a moment to look at the two officers snuggled together, but knowing that this weather was hard on them they made no remark.

"This is Mr. Freeman. He worked with Roy and should be able to answer a few of your questions." Said the musk-ox and gave Nick the files on Roy.

Judy took out her note pad again and Nick took the files then started scanning through them.

"Mr. Freeman, do you know if Roy ever spent some of his free time around here in Tundratown?" Asked Judy.

"I think he mentioned something about having a brother here. Might have gone there from time to time." Said the moose lazily.

"That we know. Has he ever run into trouble with any wolfs?"

"Wolfs?" He tapped his finger against his chine. "I don't think so, nice guy that Roy was. Gave me a cupcake for my birthday, he did." He smiled as he remembered the taste of the delicious treat.

Judy sighed, she was getting nowhere. However, Nick seemed to found something of interest in the files and asked the moose. "Has Roy ever complained about any debt problems?"

"Oh sure. Pretty deep debts. Think he said something about owing some very unkind people several thousands of dollars. Didn't say who it was though." Said the moose.

"Thank you for your time sir." Judy thanked him.

"Sure little bunny and fox." Said the moose and went back inside.

"Think you can get us a warrant for his house?" Asked Nick resting his head on hers.

"Sure." She said relaxed and enjoying the warmth from Nick. "We'll have to get a move on though. He lives all the way back in Savanna Central."

"To bad, I was just getting use to the cold." Nick said and let her go to get back to the car.

Judy felt disappointed with the fact that he just let her go. It was such a nice feeling and now it was gone. She thought it was just Nick's way of messing with her, however she wouldn't mind if he found another excuse to repeat the act.

* * *

 **10:32, Savanna Central, Home of victim.**

Nick and Judy were busy searching the apartment for any evidence of who the victim may have owed money too. They searched a good long while before Nick finally stumbled upon something interesting in the bedroom.

"Well well, would you look at this. Seems our victim may have had a bit of a gambling problem." Nick said holding up a flyer for a casino and several toucans.

"Let me see." Said Judy and took the flyer. "Frost Finger Casino. That's all the way back in Tundratown." She said with a heavy sigh.

Nick face palmed. "I think I'm starting to miss the tedious patrols."

"We have to report to the chief first. If Roy really did have a gambling problem and owed money to these people than their sure to have covered their tracks. Going there with hardly any evidence will only let them know we're on too them." Judy explained.

"You got a point." Nick agreed.

"We should get a hot coffee while were at it." Judy suggested.

"What? My jacket and body aren't enough?" Nick said stretching his arms out as if he was inviting her into a hug.

She was kind of expecting him to say something like this. "Easy foxy, you've got no probable cause here."

"Keep that in mind when we head back into the cold." He winked at her.

Her nose twitched and she couldn't help but wonder if Nick was actually trying to flirt with her. She didn't say anything and gave him a light smile in response, not sure if that was the right move. She should have told him not on the job. No! She should have said not at all, but she didn't. Which brought her to the next question. Was she enjoying it?

"There's got to be something else around here." Nick said as he looked around the room.

"I doubt it. Seems this guy didn't want anyone finding anything." She said scanning the room as well.

The rest of the search gave them nothing useful. There first murder case seemed to be harder than expected and gave them very little to work with. Still, her first case only had a single witness that wasn't even on the files. They decided to go back to the headquarters and take a look at the pictures taken at the scene of the crime.

 **11:35, ZPD Headquarters**

Judy sat by her cubical going over everything they've gathered so far. Her desk was filled with papers and had a coffee to her right. She was deep in her work, making sure she covered every detail. Nick came with his on coffee from behind.

He took a sip and stood next to her desk. "Good news, carrots. I got access to the video feed from the night of the incident."

Her eyes widened and her attention was fully focused on Nick. "You did!? Why didn't we do this already?"

"Beats me. I just thought how did we solve our first case. And bingo! Traffic cam came to mind since he was found on the street." Nick said, walked over to his cubical and placed his coffee on the desk.

He typed on the computer for awhile before starting up the video feed for that night. Judy stood next to him and placed her paw on his shoulder. The video showed the time that said it was 04:50. The street seemed empty until their suspect came out of one of the apartment buildings. He carried a suitcase with him and looked all around him before walking down the street.

"Does he look nervous to you?" Asked Nick taking a quick peek at Judy.

"Yeah, and what's in that suitcase?" She asked taking a closer look at it.

The man came to the ally way were a mammal that looked like a wolf stood in winter clothes and a fedora. He whistled at the leopard as he came to the ally way. Roy looked around again and approached the wolf. However, a sudden ball of snow hit the CCTV camera blocking it and preventing them from seeing the rest.

"What? Where did that come from?" Judy asked frustrated and gestured at the screen.

"Damn it! Least we know he wasn't working alone." Nick said just as frustrated with the unexpected snowball.

"Can't we zoom in on the image of him, enhance it and get an ID on this guy?" Judy asked looking at Nick with a raised eyebrow.

"I guess we could give it to the technical team and see if they can get anything out of it." Nick laid back in his chair while holding onto the table.

"I hope this works." Judy said with a hint of worry.

The video was given over to the technical team to see if they could ID the wolf. Though because the man stood so far away his face became highly pixelated when the they zoomed in on him. They could try and clean it up and then do a search with what they've managed to do. With there somewhat outdated tech that would not only take time, but there was also no guarantee that they'd be able to clean up the image enough to match it with anyone.

The chief had also made it clear that without a decent amount of evidence he didn't want them investigating a casino. Since every casino from Tundratown to Sahara Square was under the control of a crime boss. Not all by Mr. Big though. So after finding no other leads and the search still running by the end of the day the two decided to clock out and head home.

"I can't believe we have to wait for tech support to finish up before we can get on with this case." Judy complained on their walk back home.

Nick walked with his paws in his pockets and rolled his eyes with that trademark grin of his. "Relax Judy, tomorrow they should have a match and we can get on with it."

Judy wasn't to sure about that and gave Nick a look that said 'I doubt it'. Nick simply chuckled at her expression. "You worry to much."

"One of us has to." She stated as they reached her apartment building.

"This is your stop, carrots. I'll be on my way than." Nick said and was about to walk of before Judy stopped him.

"Wait, Nick." She stretched out her paw and slowly brought it back as her eyes looked down at the ground. "I just wanted to apologize again for doubting your abilities as a cop."

Nick put his paws on her shoulders which made her look up and into his emerald green eyes. "No need Judy. I had a moment of weakness and you were merely worried for my safety."

Judy smiled and her ears dropped down behind her. "Thanks for understanding. You wanna come inside for some carrot stew?" She offered.

Nick put his paws back in his pockets and shrugged. "Beats the leftovers at home."

Judy felt a tad shy. She and Nick usually walked together till her place, which made yesterday even more lonely when she came home without him by her side. This however, was the first time she had invited him inside and they would be having their first meal together off the clock.

Nick sensed this, not that she was doing a good job at hiding it. Her eyes scanned the ground and her paws where held behind her back as if she didn't know what to do with them.

"So will we being going inside than?" He asked pointing his thumb at the door.

Judy had nearly forgoten about having to actually enter the building. "Oh yeah, of course." She said with nervous smile.

"After you carrots." Nick gestured her to go in first.

She only widened her nervous smile and made a nervous chuckle to compliment it. Nick followed her quietly all the way to her room. He might have had his grin visible on his face, but he started to feel slightly nervous as well. This didn't make sense to him, he was always so calm and could handle any situation. Still, something about going with his partner to her apartment after hours just gave him a feeling he wasn't familiar with.

They reached the door and Judy took out her keys, nearly dropping it in the process. The key met the lock and with a turn it was unlocked and they enter the room. Nick scanned the room that probably wouldn't fit anything bigger than him. " _Only a tad smaller than mine. No T.V. though."_ He thought as he closed the door behind him.

"It's small I know." Judy pointed out. "But with my pay cheque, _what_ else can I afford." She opened her small fridge and gathered a bunch of ingredients. "I hope you don't mind. I have to cook it first."

"Not at all. Just means I get a nice warm and fresh meal." He leaned against the wall seeing only the one chair by her desk.

Judy followed his eyes and noticed he was looking at the chair. "You can take a seat Nick. I don't mind. I'll be busy cooking anyway."

Nick made his way to the chair, dragged it out and sat down on the hard and kind of uncomfortable object. "Comfy." He said sarcastically.

"Hey, just cause this bunny has a soft body doesn't mean she can't take something hard." She said in a playful manner. Though the moment that last word left her mouth blood rushed to her cheeks and she straightened ears.

Nick's eyes widened in surprise of what she said. He could tell she was regretting it, but that didn't stop a few dirty thoughts from passing through his mind. He responded with a nervous toothy grin, unable to find the right words.

Judy placed the carrots on the table and frantically started chopping them in an attempt to ease her own dirty mind.

After a moment of thought Nick finally tried to break the silence. "Coming from a farm you must be really good at carrot based meals." His one arm rested on the chairs handle.

Judy gulped, the thoughts still fresh in her mind. "I don't know about expert, but my family sure thinks it's good."

The silence returned and it lasted for a while giving her time to set up the food on a stove. Afterwards all that was left was waiting for it too finishing cooking. She made her way too the bed and sat down on the edge. her ears dropped behind her back and scanning the floor she tried to think of something to say.

"How long does it usually take?" Nick asked with a less nervous smile.

She looked at the stove. "About 45 to 60 minutes." She said as plainly as she could.

Nick nodded taking in the the possible awkward hour. He had to break the ice. "I just quickly need to use the little foxes room if you don't mind."

"Oh sure, just through that door." She pointed at the bathroom door next to the one that exited the room altogether.

Nick got up and went inside closing the door behind him. He sighed and faced himself in the mirror. What was wrong with him? He was so cool headed this morning, despite snuggling with Judy and using the word 'naked' while he was doing so. Now though he couldn't put on a smug face to save his own tail.

Maybe it's because he was alone with her. Out of sight from anyone else and in the place she felt most at ease. He couldn't deny the tension between them, however the feeling that caused it wasn't unwelcome. In fact he wondered if he shouldn't embrace it. It was a risk. Their friendship and partnership was at stake, but he wasn't blind to the way shes also been acting. If he played his cards right he might just make this work.

* * *

 **Note:** I know I ended in the middle of it, but that's cause the next part needs a chapter of it's own.


	3. Chapter 3

"Okay, Nick. You can do this." He motivated himself. "Just act natural and remain calm."

He nodded at himself and made for the door. He placed his hand on the handle and took in a deep breath before opening it and stepping out. Judy was gazing at the floor and her head shot up to face Nick when he came out. She smiled at him as he took a seat on the chair.

"So carrots, what do you do in your free time here at home?" He asked trying to make light conversation. "I mean there's no laptop, T.V. or even a radio."

Judy pointed at her alarm clock. "Actually, that alarm clock is part radio."

"Really?" Nick turned his attention to the device on the table. He clicked on the button and soon a relaxing tone started to play. It was definitely a violin being played he thought.

"That's kinda cool." He admitted.

"Thanks. There isn't really much to do here, and even if there was my neighbors would just complain about the noise." She explain.

Nick's left paws fingers tapped on the table in rhythm with the music. Judy giggled at the sight of Nick enjoying this kind of music.

This didn't go unnoticed with Nick and he put on his trademark grin again, finally starting to feel at ease. "What? Just cause I'm a shifty fox means I can't appreciate the more higher class music?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Uh... It's not something you'd expect."

Nick simply rolled his eyes and adjusted his seating to find a more comfortable position. He found a better one, but would rather use the word manageable to describe it.

"What about you?" The bunny asked leaning back and placing her arms on the bed to support her.

"I do have a T.V. However, I can no longer afford the premium package thanks to my _wonderful_ legit job." He chuckled.

"Awww. Is the little ex-con missing his old way of life?" She teased and giggled afterwards.

"No. I just miss my old income." He shrugged.

Judy rolled her eyes and focused them on the stew which was warming up, but still had at least another 30 minutes to go.

Nick exhaled slightly and thought of how he could shift the conversation to what he'd rather talk about. "Now since you obviously don't entertain yourself here, where do you than go for a little fun?"

Judy looked at him as if he was joking. "You think this farm girl is the outgoing city type?"

"Don't tell me your life just revolves around the ZPD." Nick said leaning on the desk.

"Well, I mean I do get to spend the whole day with you which is fun." She gestured at him. "It's hanging out with a friend and making the city a better place at the same time"

Nick's smile faded a bit when he heard the word 'friend'. Making him wonder if he should continue down this path. Judy saw the sudden change in his expression and mentally cursed herself. " _Friend! Really? That's all you could come up with?"_

"However." She started. "I wouldn't mind the two of us spending time together off duty." She set the bait hoping he'd take it.

Nick saw a chance of this still working out. "Oh yeah? What do you suggest?" He leaned closer to Judy.

Judy saw his grin return to it's old self and smiled. "It would be nice visiting your place sometime."

Before Nick could respond the music stopped and a pop song came up. It was familiar, one he had his neighbors play the other day and by the looks of it one that Judy seemed to enjoy. Her head swayed from left to right and she hummed along with it.

Nick couldn't help but stare. He wondered what she'd look like if she moved her entire body to the beat without holding back.

Judy caught on to his staring and stopped. "What? You think it's silly don't you?"

"No, no. It's short of cute." He said.

"Nick, what have I told you about calling me cute?" She asked crossing her arms, but still kept her smile.

He shrugged. "It is what it is carrots. If you want me to use a stronger word you'd have to do better than that." He gestured his paw at her.

"And tell me, Nick. What word would you than use?" She asked leaning in a bit closer.

He took a good look at her body, taking in every detail made available to him. He kept himself as calm as he could, but his heart was bonding at a million beats per minute. He had her where he wanted her, so why was this getting harder as he went on. He didn't want to take things too far. He just wanted to create a stepping stone on which to start this journey.

Judy felt a warmth in her body as Nick's emerald green eyes examined her. She couldn't deny that she enjoyed the feeling. She thought on the comments they made that sent graphic images through her mind. She knew this was more than just some primal instinct. She'd been growing closer to him ever since they've been on that first case.

"I-I would... say-" Nick was chocking on his own words, unable to think of anything.

Judy's expression became one of worry. "Nick are you alright?"

Nick shook his head. "Yeah, I'm f-fine." He looked away in embarrassment and smelled the air around him. "T-that carrot stew smells good." He said trying to pretend nothing happened.

Judy was lost for words. She had been expecting this to escalate and was left disappointed and worried about Nick. She stayed silent and this set the tone for the rest of the night. They listened to the music and made small comments here and there.

Soon the stew was finished and they ate up enjoying the warm meal. However, the mood made it feel like it was missing something. Nick thanked her for the meal and after an awkward goodbye and a quick yet short of rude encounter with Judy's neighbors, who were only then getting home, Nick left.

After Nick left Judy slowly started to get ready for bed, continually replaying the nights events in her head. She wondered if she was to forward, but than again she was just playing along with Nick. When she was done she laid down on her bed still in deep thought. She decided that she wont let the next night end up like this. If Nick couldn't make the first move, than she would.

* * *

 **07:35** , **ZPD Headquarters.**

Judy sat on her and Nick's chair at the bullpin waiting for Nick and the daily roll call to take place. Her paws her folded together and rested on the table as she stared at the wall in front of her. She was going over what she would say to Nick when they had the chance to talk.

Moments later Nick stepped in wearing his trademark grin and aviators with a coffee in his left paw. "Come on Fangmeyer, you can beat him." Nick encourage the wolf arm wrestling with officer Johnson the lion.

Just after he had said that the lion smashed Fangmeyer's paw down on the table. Cheers were emitted from the others and Johnson nodded his head proud of his victory. Nick payed no mind, took a sip of his coffee and got up on the chair with Judy, placing his coffee on the table in front of him. Judy opened her mouth to say good morning when the hippo announced that chief Bogo is coming in. All the officers stood up and where told to once again take their seats.

"Morning everyone." The chief started. "Two items on my docket today; First off officers Delgato and Wolford. You along with officers from precinct two will be providing security for the mayor at today's announcement of the opening of the new public.

The two wolves looked at each other knowing that this would be a boring day.

"Secondly." The chief continued. "Officers Hopps and Wilde will be receiving a third party to there on going investigation. They will meet me in my office afterwards. Everyone else will proceed with the assignments they had yesterday."

Everyone got up and left while Nick and Judy turned to each other, both wondering who this would be and why he/she would be joining. They made their way to the chiefs office.

"Nick when we get a chance we need to talk about last night." Judy said when they got to the door.

Nick sighed. "Carrots I-"

Judy shushed him. "Not now, Nick." She looked at him with concern, but change her expression to a more professional one.

Nick nodded and opened the door, waiting for Judy to go in first. He followed her and closed the door again before his eyes fell on the jackal sitting on one of the chairs. He noticed three chairs were laid out with only one left unoccupied and meant for him.

"Officers Hopps and Wilde, meet Mr. Christoper Jackalson." The chief gestured at the jackal.

"Pleasure to meet you." Christoper said kindly. "You can call me Chris for short." The Jackal wore an officers uniform and a set of reading glasses.

"Nice to meet you too." Judy responded and let out a paw which he took hold of and shook.

"Hey ya Chris!" Nick greeted and took his seat.

Chief Bogo cleared his throat grabbing their attention. "Mr. Jackalson is from tech support and will be helping you on this case."

Nick raised an eyebrow. "But sir, we're already getting help from them." Nick noted.

"True, but you'll need someone in the field with you." Chris Interjected.

"In the field?" Judy asked confused looking at the jackal and back at the chief.

"Yes, well you see." Chris started. "We were unable to to match the wolf thanks to our _aged_ technology. However, we did manage to see a scar on his right nostril."

He picked up a picture on the desk and handed it too Judy. "We ran a search based on that and other details and found a possible suspect." He took another picture of the suspect and gave it too her. "A Mr. Andy Kozlov."

Nick was startled by the name. He'd heard it before when he was dealing with Mr. Big. However, Mr. Big has different ways of _dealing_ with people. "So what's the plan?" He asked a bit worried.

The chief picked up the file on his desk and opened it. "You three have been authorized to go out on a stakeout. _This_ investigation-" He forced his index finger onto the table. "-Could lead to something more than just arresting a murderer."

Nick raised his eyebrow and removed his aviators, keeping them held in his paw. "We're not going after a crime boss are we?"

Chief Bogo smiled in a dastardly manner. "Oh yes you are."

"We wont let you down Mr. Chief Bogo sir." Chris saluted.

Judy grinned at the thought of another big case. "Yeah Chief, you can count on us."

Nick remained quiet, but kept a smile as not to show his doubts. When you've seen what his seen, you tend to be less enthusiastic about going up against a crime boss.

"Judy and Nick, you will be placed in an apartment near the the area where we believe his most active. Chris, you'll mammal the van equipped with the necessary... uh equipment." Cheif Bogo explained.

"Wait a second." Chris said displeased. "I have to stay in the van?"

"Yes. We can't have you drag all that stuff inside the building and risk suspicion. "Chief Bogo pointed out.

"So they get a bed and shower while I'm stuck with a chair and deodorant spray?" He asked gesturing at them and then himself.

"Yes. The vehicle in question is in the parking lot. This is all you'll need to know about where to stay and what to do. If we find anything here we'll inform you." The chief explained.

The mammals traded glances and waited for further instructions. "That would be all. You can leave now."

They left the office and made their way to the van. It was a simple white van on the outside. However, on the inside at the back was three large screens and a mobile computer.

"More aged tech. What fun." Said the jackal sarcastically not looking forward to this.

"We should probably gather our things first." Said Nick reading through the file. "There's a lot of instructions in this thing." he chuckled.

"I'd hope so. This is our first stakeout and I want to do it right." Said Judy placing her hands on her hips.

With a whisper Nick said. "We'll need more than good instructions to survive this."

Judy was of course able to hear Nick's words. "You don't think we can handle it?"

Nick closed the file and looked at Judy. "I think we're dealing with experts."

"Look on the bright side." Started Chris. "Least if you make it out alive you wont still smell like a dead carouse." he said referring to the lack of showers he will be taking.

The two of them snickered at their new teammate. "Come on, we wont be gone that long." Nick insured.

"These kind of things could take from a few hours to weeks, even months." He lifted his paws in the air for empathizes. "Not to mention I'll be living off snack bars and cricket chips."

He stepped inside the van to inspect it. Judy took the file from Nick and went over it herself. One thing caught her attention. "Nick?"

"Yeah carrots?" Nick asked putting is aviators back on.

"This thing says we'll be using a one bedroom apartment." She nervously.

Nick seemed emotionless and blinked a few times. "I'll sleep on the floor."

"You sure?" She asked a bit skeptical.

"I'm sure carrots." He said with a reassuring smile.

Chris stepped back out. "Okay, she's good to go. You two ready?" He asked clapping his paws together.

"For the job? Yeah. For the cold? Meh." Nick answered leveling his paw at the last word.

"We're good to go." Judy confirmed.

* * *

 **Note:** Hey everyone, sorry this took a bit long, but that happens from time to time. Anyway I hope you enjoyed the chapter even though it didn't have any real intimacy. That **will** come I assure you.

Also, I added a character that will come in regularly, but don't worry he wont take up much space. His just there as a side character. Feel free to let me know what you think in the reviews and have a good day/night.


	4. Chapter 4

The trio had finally collected all they would need from their homes and started to drive to Tundratown. Nick was at the wheel while Judy and Chris were seated on plastic chairs with blue cushions placed on them for comfort. Chris typed on the computer as he got acquainted with it. Judy on the other hand looked over all the luggage they'd brought along. From a few bags to a wooden bucket which she found odd.

"What's with the bucket?" She asked with a raised eyebrow and pointed at it.

Chris momentarily looked over at it before getting back to work on the computer. "Let me answer that question with a question."

"Okay..." Judy asked finding that odd as well.

"What are the two most important things in any bathroom." He asked still typing.

Judy looked up at the roof in thought. "That would be the shower or bath depending on what you fancy. And the second would be the toilet." She said with a smile.

Chris grinned. "I already have deodorant spry."

Judy didn't understand at first, but then her smile slowly started to fade as she got the idea. "Eww. Your not seriously gonna... ? In that?" She asked disgusted.

"Well I'm not going to do it outside in the cold snow." He said as if it was obvious enough.

"You sure you'll survive in here?" Nick asked from the drivers seat glancing into the rear view mirror for a moment.

"Believe it or not I've survived like this before back when me and my friends were full on gamers." He said chuckling at old memories. "That reminds me, we should think of code names."

"Is that really necessary?" Judy asked not being a fan of the suggestion.

"Come now carrots. Code names is one of the best parts of this kind of thing." Nick mused.

"Fine. However, I'm not going to be called carrots." Judy said sternly.

"Cottontail it is." Chris simply decided. "And Nick you can be Redcoat."

"Cause of my fur? And what will you be?"

Chris stopped typing for a moment. "Everyone knows the guy mammaling the computer is called Overwatch." He said spreading his arms out for empathizes.

"You know what? You talk to much." Judy inquired leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms.

"That's it Cottontail! We can call him Jabber mouth." Nick chuckled as he turned a corner.

"Perfect!" Judy exclaimed.

Chris sighed and went back to typing. "Alright, it's not like I'll be able to change your minds."

"You'll get used to it." Judy reassured.

* * *

 **09:45, Tundratown, stakeout apartment.**

The van stopped at the apartment and Nick and Judy stepped out with their luggage. The van drove off and hid in a nearby location in an old ally-way. Deep enough to not be seen by anyone simply passing by. Judy and Nick on the other hand entered the building and went to the receptionist.

The female arctic fox looked up from the fashion magazine held in her paws. She placed it down next to a computer and smiled at the two. "Hello there sir and madam. How may I help you?" She asked kindly.

"We reserved a room here." Nick said putting down his heavy luggage.

"Just give me your name and I'll find it."

"Mr. Trueman." Nick said the name he was meant to use.

"Ah, hear you are. Room 42, but... " She looked up at him strangely. "It's a one bedroom apartment. Will you be staying in a separate apartment ma'am?" She looked at Judy.

Judy looked down a bit embarrassed. "No. I'll be staying with him in that one bedroom apartment."

The arctic fox stared down at the bunny and back at the fox with a perplexed look. She shook it off trying not to get into their affairs as it wasn't her place. "Here is you key than." She handed Nick the key.

"Thank you." Nick thanked her an they started to walk up the stairs.

Nick took one last glance at the receptionist and saw her staring at the door probably in deep thought. He didn't take it to mind and continued up the stairs. They reached the room and Nick unlocked the door and opened it allowing Judy to enter first. It was a small place not much bigger than Judy's. After dropping their Luggage on the floor Judy turned her attention to Nick.

"Nick, we should probably talk about last night now that we have a chance." She said rubbing her left arm uncomfortably.

Nick sighed. "Alright, but we should get set up while were at it."

"So, what happened?" She asked opening a bag with a laptop inside.

Nick stared at a corner in the apartment before turning back to Judy. "I couldn't find the right words. I panicked and choked as a result."

Judy had already removed the laptop and was holding it in her paws. "Why would you panic?" She asked concerned.

Nick bit his lower lip and looked back at the corner. He knew he could lie his way out of this and even if he could. Would he want to? "Because I-I."

"What is it Nick? You can tell me anything." She reassured him.

Nick looked at her straight in the eyes. "I don't know if I want to be _just_ friends anymore."

Judy's heart started to race and her breathing became heavy. Was Nick saying what she thought he was saying? "Are you saying you want to be more than friends?"

Nick nodded. "I know it's not the best time to bring this up and I understand if you don't feel the same. It's just-"

"Nick." She cut him off. "I think and want the _same_ thing." She gave a warm and inviting smile.

Nick was both surprised and overjoyed. Was this real or had he fallen asleep on the way here. Judy stepped closer and placed her paw on is cheek. That was all the confirmation he needed. That felt to real to be a dream.

"I want to give this a try, but at the same time we _have_ to stay focused on the job." She said looking deep into his emerald green eyes.

Nick couldn't hold back his smile and nodded in agreement. A static noise then came from one of their bags. Judy moved over to the bag and removed a walkie-talkie.

"Come in Cottontail an Redcoat. Are you there? Over." Asked Chris.

She held in a button to allow her to speak through it. "This is Cottontail. We are in the room and just getting set up."

There was a moment of silence. "Oh, your done talking. Say _over_ when your done so I can know. Over."

Judy giggled at how into this the jackal was. "Will do Jabber mouth. Over."

"Good. When your done in there remember to set up the cameras outside so we I can get a visual. Over."

"We'll be out in a few. Over and out." She had to admit she did enjoy saying that. She turned back to Nick who was wearing his trademark smile. "Let's get on with it."

"Sure. Back to work." Nick said rubbing his paws together and looking around the bags to see what he could do first.

After a quick setup Judy and Nick made their way on to the streets. There were only a few mammals walking around here and there, each occupied with something. A small bar on the other side of the road a few blocks down was what they were interested in. According to the file Andy Kozlov came there often and it may be a meeting point of some sort.

"We have six cameras." Judy said looking at the tiny little devices in her paw. All six fit comfortably in her paw with room to spare and a clear color to blend in. "You take three and I'll take three. Remember to look as casual as possible when you plant them."

Nick nodded and took three from her. He placed them in his jackets pocket and casually walked away on the same side of the road in the direction of the bar. Judy on the other paw crossed the street.

She kept an eye on her surroundings, including the caribou that walked passed her. " _Can't be too careful."_ She thought to herself. She leaned on a trash can and acted as if she was dusting off the snow on her foot. When she walked away she left behind the tiny device. She peaked over at Nick who was walking as casually as ever, paws in his pockets and that smug face of his.

"Dumb fox." She muttered smiling at him.

* * *

A few carefully placed cameras and a trip the a grocery store latter the two came back to the apartment building. Nick carried the grocery bags while Judy walked next to him eating a slightly frozen carrot.

"You think we should have bought something for Chris?" Judy asked.

"Nah. Were not suppose to make visual contact with him anyway." Nick said and stopped at the door waiting for Judy to open it.

"What? Your not gonna open it for me?" Judy teased him.

"Very funny, carrots." He said sarcastically.

She opened it and went ahead of Nick up the stairs. He came in and looked at the open door. "Great." He muttered.

He walked up behind the door planning to push it closed with his back. Before he could though, the arctic fox from the reception came to his aid. "That wont be necessary."

Nick stood out of the way while she closed it for him. "There, much better."

"Thanks for that." Nick said.

The white fox faced him and smiled. "You seemed to need help."

"I was kind of left hanging." Nick joked and chuckled.

"So you and the rabbit huh?" She asked nudging her head at the stairs.

"Oh, well uh... " Nick was unsure what to say. They haven't actually confirmed anything yet, but he had to make her believe they were. "Yeah, we're... yeah." Was all he managed and nodded his head.

"Alright, we'll shes probably waiting for you and I best be getting back to work." She said looking back at the desk with the computer.

Nick looked at it as well and noticed the fashion magazine from earlier. "Seems important." He said putting his grin back on.

She laughed a bit nervously. Nick then turned around and went upstairs to his partner leaving the other fox behind. She watched as he went back up walked back to her desk, sighed and got back to reading her magazine.

Judy stood by the room waiting for him as he had the keys. Her arms were crossed and she shifted her wait to the left as she stood with an annoyed expression on her face.

"What took you so long?" She asked spreading her arms when he came up next to her.

"Well you did leave me to close the door on my own." Nick said in defense. "Could you get the keys out of my pocket?"

Judy's long ears dropped to the floor and she looked at Nick with a perplexed face.

"What?" Nick asked confused.

"Put the bag down and get it out with you own paw." She said frustrated.

Nick chuckled and did as he was told. "Of course! Why didn't I think of that?"

Judy placed her paw on her forehead and dragged it down her face. "Are all males this dense?"

Nick unlocked the door and faced her. "It's not that. We're just so focused on the important stuff that we sometimes overlook the little things. It's called prioritizing."

Judy rolled her eyes. "Yeah right. It's called being simple minded." She said walking inside.

Nick only stared at her as she walked in, watching her swaying hips. When he realized what he was doing he shook his head, picked up the bag and followed her inside.

* * *

 **19:52**

Nick stared at the laptop placed on the desk in front of him. Monitoring the six video feeds displayed on the screen. He leaned back in his chair, eyes moving from one video feed to the next.

"Redcoat. Come in Redcoat. Over." Came Chris's voice over the walkie-talkie.

Nick picked it up and pressed the button. "This is Redcoat. Like 15 minutes ago there's still nothing to report. Over."

"Not a thing? Over."

"Nope. You do know where staring at the same thing here? Over." Nick said sitting up straight.

Nick waited for a reply that didn't come and leaned back after he was sure it wouldn't come.

"You know, his just looking for a little conversation." Judy pointed out when she came out of the bathroom in her pajamas.

Nick sighed. "His got wifi in there. He can find _something_ to do."

Judy rolled her eyes and stood next to Nick, putting her paw on his shoulder.

"Jabber mouth said he'll take the night shift, but one of us have to be up early to take over." Said Nick.

"And let me guess. That duty will go to the farm girl who's used to early mornings?" She asked knowing what he had in mind.

"Thanks for offering carrots." Nick said holding back a laugh.

"I didn't." Judy protested. "Dumb fox." She gave in.

Nick grinned. "It's only fair anyway."

"What do you mean by that?" She asked raising an eyebrow.

"You get the bed and a more restful experience in a shorter time. I get the sleeping bag and therefore need a longer resting period to properly restore my energy." He explained.

Judy looked at him with a gaping mouth, rewinding what he just said in her head. "So, if I take the sleeping bag you'll get up early?"

"Sure, but I'm obviously not gonna let my female partner sleep in my _old_ sleeping bag on the _floor_." He gestured at the floor.

"How gentlemammal of you." She said sarcastically.

Nick got up from the chair and walked over to his luggage. He grabbed some clothes and toiletries. "I'm going to get ready for the night."

Judy looked at his clothes and noticed he didn't have anything warm. "You don't have much there."

"Well I prefer to sleep na..." He cleared his throat. "Shirtless." He said quickly. "So I never considered buying something warm for the night."

Judy blushed. Nick might have stopped himself from finishing the word, but she knew exactly what he was going to say. "Oh, okay. Hope you don't get to cold."

Nick gave a nervous smile and went inside the bathroom.

* * *

Note: So now Nick and Judy know how each other feel, but still have to keep it **professional**. Wonder how long that will last? ;)

Thanks for all the favs, follows and reviews. It's all highly appreciated. Anyway hope you enjoyed it and feel free to drop a review to tell me what you thought and have a good day/night.


	5. Chapter 5

Judy took a good look at Nice with a concerned expression on her face. She traced her eyes from his sleeping trunks to his short sleeved Night shirt. " _His gonna freeze to death. You'll wake up to a Nicksicle tomorrow if you let this happen."_

Her thoughts were straightened by the small, but noticeable tear in the bottom of the sleeping bag. She couldn't let her partner die a slow, painful death like that. "Nick..." She attempted to smile. "There's no way you can sleep with _that_ little, in that _old_ sleeping bag, in _this_ cold."

The obviously shivering Nick simply stood there with his half laded smile. "Other than my Jacket I have no winter clothes. What do you want me to do Carrots?"

Judy bite her lower lip and looked at the double bed in the room. She noticed the extra pillows and came up with an idea. "Okay, hows about this. We share the bed and just place those extra pillows in-between us."

Nick looked at the bed and back at the bunny. He grind widely. "Oh Carrots. Shouldn't you buy me dinner first before you take me to bed?" He said mockingly.

Judy slapped her paw against her face. " _You walked right into that one, Judy."_ She thought to herself. She looked back at the fox. "Shut up, Nick. We'll just be sleeping in the same bed with a border between us."

Nick nodded. "Sure your comfortable with it?"

"It's better than watching you suffer in that old artifact you call a sleeping bag." She said and gestured at the object. "However-" She had a more serious tone now. "If you even attempt to get pawsy on me I'll-"

"No need for details, Carrots. I get the message." He took a few steps closer. "What if you get pawsy on me?"

Judy froze for a second and felt the blush forming under the fur of her cheeks. For a second she thought of the possibility, but quickly shook it off before Nick noticed. "Remember Nick. We have to stay professional."

He came in closer and stood right in front of her. "I'll try Carrots, but don't blame me if I get lost in your amethyst eyes and just feel the need to-" He places his right paw on her cheek. "-be close to you."

Judy's nose twitched, much to Nick's delight, and she stared deeply into his emerald green eyes. She felt so relaxed and it seemed as if everything around them faded away.

Nick finally managed to build up the nerve to get this close. He wasn't going to let this chance slip away cause of his nerves getting the best of him. This case could take awhile and they wouldn't have an opportunity to actually go on a date. So he had to seal the deal. He slowly closed his eyes and closed the distance between them.

Judy felt her heart race and she could feel his warm breath on her from his light breathing. Her lips slightly parted and her eyes closed. The Next thing she felt was the blissful feeling of Nick's lips making contact with hers and she simply lost herself in the kiss.

After half a minute Nick slowly broke their kiss and gazed into her eyes as he lifted his head. She returned the gaze and took a deep breathe. Nick smiled and removed his paw from her cheek.

"Nick..." Judy started. "I-I."

Nick shushed her. "Don't say anything Judy. I'm going to get into bed and pack the pillows in place. Don't stay up too late." He smiled at her.

Judy nodded in response. He just kissed her and the felling was fresh in her mind. A feeling that she wanted to experience again. She sneaked a peak at him getting the bed ready and smiled longingly at her partner. She then turned her attention to the alarm cloak that read 10:35. She might as well get some sleep in considering she'll need to be up early in the morning.

* * *

Nick yawned and opened his eyes halfway. His eyes darted around and fell on the open laptop on the desk. It still displayed the video feed from the six cameras, but there was no gray bunny watching it. He lifted his head up and looked around the room before a delightful smell caught his nose.

He took in a few whiffs. "Pancakes." He muttered.

He quickly got up, put on his jacket and some sweat pants and made his way into the kitchen. There Judy stood humming a joyful tone and scooped up a pancake with a spatula and placing it atop three others. As Nick stepped closer her long ears straightened and was directed towards Nick. She turned her head and smiled at the sight of him.

"Morning Nick. Sleep well?" She asked cheerfully.

"It was still a little cold, but it was nice to have a bit of company." Nick said walking over to the table with the plate of pancakes on top.

"Before we eat we have to check in with Chris to see how things went last night." Judy said turning off the stove and picked up the walkie-talkie on the table.

"Isn't Jabber mouth fast asleep by now?" Nick asked eyeing the pancakes.

"Well he didn't report back to us, so we might as well." She pressed the button. "Jabber mouth. Come in Jabber mouth. This is Cottontail, over."

She waited for a few moments before trying again after no response came through. "This is Cottontail. Come in Jabber mouth, over."

Another few seconds pass by and a large yawn is heard coming from the device. "This Jabber mouth. What's your status? Over."

"Just having some breakfast. Anything to report from last night? Over."

"Several animals entered the bar, but none that matches our subject. The bar seemed to close at 2am. Over."

"Great work Jabber mouth. We'll let you know if we see something during our shift. Over."

"Sure thing Cottontail-" He let out another yawn. "-Over and..." There was a moment of silence that was followed by the sound of snoring. Judy and Nick stared at each other and held back a laugh. A loud **thud** was heard and the walkie-talkie went quiet.

"Poor guy. Must have spent all night staring at that screen." Nick said and got out some plates.

"I'm sure it's not his first time falling asleep in front of a computer." She sat down and watched Nick as he placed down two plates and added two pancakes to each one.

"So, Nick." Judy started. "About last night. I-I'm glad we made the first move."

Nick smiled as he sat down as well. "I know it was sudden, Carrots."

"Let's just take things easy and maybe when we get back you can take me out for a proper date." Judy placed her paw on his.

Nick grabbed hold of it. "Of course I will Judy."

Judy thought back on that kiss. That wonderful kiss. How she loved every moment of it and how it came from someone she never would have expected it from, but she wouldn't have wanted it to be anyone else. If the night wasn't every eventful, she'd make sure to repeat the action.

* * *

The day itself was mostly uneventful and Nick and Judy simply kept to light conversations to help pass the time. They took turns watching the video feed, waiting for something of interest to happen. However, other than a few animals walking by and entering the bar there was nothing to really catch their attention.

At about 8pm though, that changed. Nick sat on the chair with Judy sitting on his lap and digging her head into his neck. They agreed to try and remain as professional as possible, but that didn't stop a few pecks on the cheek and some snuggling from time to time.

As they watched the video feed a familiar looking wolf came into view. Nick's eyes widened. "Is that him?"

Judy took a careful look and noticed the scar on his right snout. "That's him!"

She quickly picked up the walkie-talkie to contact Chris. "Target confirmed. I repeat target confirmed. Over."

"Copy that Cottontail. You are clear follow him, but stay cautious and keep your distance. Over."

Judy hopped off of Nick and turned to face him. "You go into the bar. I'll keep a safe distance to provide backup should you need it."

Nick nodded and they quickly made their way down. Nick was the first to get out of the building and continued to stroll down the street towards the bar. Judy left a few seconds after and walked towards a little cafe in the opposite direction.

When Nick entered he noticed that the bar was quite empty. Two caribous sat in the corner, a polar bear near the entrance and the Andy Kozlov by the counter. Nick casually walked over and took a seat to his left, leaving an empty seat in-between them. He pulled on a leaver to bring the seat up, allowing him to see over the counter. A Polar bear approached him.

"One beer my good mammal." Nick said to the bar-mammal.

He nodded and got one out of the freezer to give to Nick. Nick removed the lid and took a sip of the cold drink. The wolf next to him had a shot of vodka with him. Nick tried to remain as natural as possible, which wasn't really a problem. He and Finnick use to go to the bar every once in a while. Nick isn't much of a drinker, but he didn't mind taking a load off from time to time.

He heard the door open and took a peak at whoever just came in. It was a moose, a moose that his seen before. " _Shit! Mr. Freeman."_ Nick started to panic. If this moose saw him he could blow his cover. Nick made sure to keep his head faced the other way. The moose took the seat in-between him and the wolf, his back facing Nick and ordered his own shot of vodka.

"Добрый вечер мистер Фримен (Good evening Mr. Freeman)." Said the wolf in a deep calm tone. Looking up at the television hanging from the roof.

"English please, for the 100th time Mr. Kozlov." The moose said slightly annoyed.

"You should start to learn the language. At least by now you should know how to greet someone in it." Andy kept his eyes on the T.V.

The moose took his vodka and poured it down his throat. He exhaled in enjoyment and motioned for a refill. "The police are snooping around town and it's only a matter of time before they start finding leads."

Andy turned to the moose and smiled slightly. "Time, Mr. Freeman. That's something we have enough of. I get that your new, but there's no need to feel uneasy. I've done this job long enough to learn how to avoid getting caught."

The moose took his second round. "Can I just finally get my pay?"

"Is that why you've already taken two shots in 5 minutes?" He chuckled. Something Mr. Freeman didn't find amusing. "Relax my friend."

The wolf took out an envelop from his jackets pocket and gave it to Mr. Freeman. "Pleasure doing business. We'll be employing your services again if and when we need it."

Mr. Freeman put the envelop in his own pocket and smiled. "One more shot and put it on my tab!"

He quickly gulped it down and left the building. "See ya!" He said to the wolf.

"До свидания (Goodbye)." Andy said and finally took his own shot. He then continued to watch the T.V.

All the while Nick kept his face hidden. Thankfully the moose didn't seem very bright and had other things on his mind. Nick placed some money on the table and thanked the bar-mammal. He sighed and casually walked out of the bar. He was more than happy with what he found out, but knew that this was far from over. He never met the wolf before obviously, however from what he heard this wolf was not one to be messed with.

Nick needed more info on this guy and who he works for. He needed to pay a visit to an old friend. Enemy? Friend of Judy's rather. Mr. Big himself. Another sigh escaped his lips knowing this was going to bring up past mistakes. Mistakes he hops Judy would be willing to except now that they were more than friends.

* * *

 **Note:** Hello everyone. I have a few things to say about the chapter. First of Judy and Nick finally had their first kiss and it will be the first of many. Next we've now met Mr. Kozlov and as you can see he speaks Russian. I thought it would help add to his character. It wasn't a very long chapter, but i think a good deal happened in it.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. Leave a review to let me know what you thought of the chapter. They are very motivating. Have a good day/night.


	6. Chapter 6

Judy sat at the cafe by one of the outside tables waiting on some coffee, but more importantly waiting on Nick. It didn't take long for her coffee to come since it was already late at night and the place was basically empty. Still the doors remained open till 9pm. Taking a sip of her cup so looked around the street, noticing one or two animals walking or driving by.

Taking another sip she spotted that red coat of fur from her favorite fox that was visible even to her at this time of night. Granted the street lights did help her out. He came out as casually as he went in, which means things must have gone well or at the very least hasn't gone bad.

By the time he'd approached her the coffee was about halfway and had already lost some of it's heat in this cold weather. Nick pulled out the chair opposite to Judy and sat down.

"Well?" Judy asked curiously.

"I've made an interesting discovery. You know that moose we questioned the other day?" Nick asked leaning a bit forward.

"The one that works at the climate wall?" She took another sip of her coffee and seemed a bit more interested.

"His working with Andy Kozlov. He just came inside and collected his pay." Nick looked back at the bar to see if he could maybe still see him somewhere. No sign of him however.

Judy's eyes widened and she gasped. "Seriously!? So he helped commit the murder?"

Nick turned his head back to her. "I'm not sure, but he was complaining about the police snooping around."

Judy eyed the bar before leaning back in her chair. "Question is, where do we go from here?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

Nick sighed, releasing a visible cold breath from his mouth. "We need more info on you this guy is. And there's only one little arctic shrew that can provide us with that."

Judy nodded and crossed her arms. "Alright, paying a visit to Mr. Big. Wouldn't mind paying a visit to Fru Fru as well. See how little Judy is doing." She smiled at the thought of the little thing.

Nick let out a shiver feeling the cold. "We better get back to our apartment and report in with Chris."

"Sure." She took the last sip of her coffee and waved over to the waiter.

* * *

 **15 minutes later Back at the apartment**

Nick had just finished brushing his teeth and came out of the bathroom to find Judy by the laptop. She informed Chris about the events and what they were planing to do next. He was skeptical and advised them to do so with caution.

"You know, it ain't good to stare at a screen all day like that." Nick mused putting on his favorite grin.

She looked over at him with an inviting smile. "What would you _rather_ have me stare at?"

Nick's grin grew wider. "Something easier on the eyes." He walked over to her and stared into her eyes. "By now Chris's shift has started anyway. So we have some time to kill."

Judy felt a bit nervous. They may have sealed the deal last night, but this was still all new to her. She only ever focused on her job and relationships weren't her strong suite. Not that she hasn't tried. It just never worked out before.

Nick stared deeply into her eyes and leaned in for a kiss. Again her nose twitched in anticipation. Feeling his lips against hers sent shivers down her spin. She wrapped her arms around his neck and returned the kiss allowing it to last for a short while. After parting lips they each took a few breaths to recover from it.

"I think we can kill a little more time than that." Judy said, her face only an inch away from his.

Nick picked her up from the chair, her arms still wrapped around his neck, took her place on the chair and she sat down on his lap.

"Why Judy, weren't we suppose to stay _professional_?" Nick Jokingly asked.

"Oh, shut up and kiss me." She demanded and he happily complied.

As they kissed he held her just above the waist with his right paw and at the back of her head with his left. Nick wanted to really get a taste for her and pressed his tongue against her teeth. She moved them out of the way and allowed him excess. Nick made good use of the opportunity and fully explored her mouth and ended up meeting her tongue in the process.

After a moment of tasting each other they parted again taking heavier breaths this time, keeping eye contact as they do so. Nick couldn't get enough of her, but he didn't want to take things too fast. Judy was something special and all he wanted was to just be with her.

"Hmm. Minty." Judy commented referring to his freshly brushed teeth.

"Thought you might like it." Nick mused.

Judy giggled and straightened herself. "As _nice_ as that was I still need to get up early and have to get ready for bed."

"Oh come now, Judy. What's the rush? It's not like anythings gonna happen at that bar that time in the morning." Nick protested.

Judy smiled gently and got off of him. "We still have a job to do." She walked over to the bathroom and stopped by the door, taking another look at her fox. "I don't think we'll be needing those extra pillows tonight."

Nick donned a look of surprise that was quickly replaced by that trademark grin of his. "If _you_ say so, Carrots."

Judy rolled her eyes and entered the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Nick leaned back in the chair and held his paws behind his head.

* * *

 **09:02, Mr. Big's place.**

Nick and Judy had taken a taxi to the arctic shrews home, not wanting to disturb Chris from his slumber by taking the van. They waited patiently at his office with two of his polar bears standing on either side dressed in black suites.

Nick made sure that Judy was the one who called him, which was a good idea since he was more than happy to hear from her. They even made plans for brunch with Fru Fru. He just hoped for bigger food than that slice of cake he had at her wedding.

A few minutes of listening to a ticking clock later and the door finally opened. A large polar bear entered, one that towered over the others and that held something carefully in his paws. He sat down on the desk and placed his paws on the desk, parting them to reveal the arctic shrew. He sat in expensive looking wooden, rotating chair.

"Judy dear, it's nice to see you again. I hear you've been keeping in contact with Fru Fru." He said smiling at the bunny and resting his arms on the chair.

"It's good to see you too, Mr. Big. And _of course_ I'm in contact with her." Judy said cheerfully.

"We'll talk more about that at brunch. For now we have _business_ to take care of." He pressed his fingers against each other. "You say, you want to know more about someone I may or may not have had dealings with in the past?"

"Yes Mr. Big. Andy Kozlov." Judy confirmed.

He rubbed his chin and thought for a moment. "I know him. We met not long before Nick sold me that _rug_." He eyed the fox for a moment.

Nick smiled uncomfortably and decided to remain quiet.

"What can you tell us about him?" Judy asked curiously.

"I can't go to much into detail. It's not good for business if I speak more than I should." He leaned a bit to the right. "What I can tell you is that his a hired assassin. Does the dirty work for people who wants there paws clean and from what I hear his taken up a more permanent employment."

"With who?"

The arctic shrew stared at her for a moment till she got the message.

"Right, you can't tell us that." Her ears dropped behind her head slightly disappointed.

"If you want to know more you can always ask Nicholas here. His worked with him before." The shrew gestured to Nick.

Nick was confused. "What? I've never even met the guy."

"Not face to face, no. However, you worked with him on a very _special_ job." Mr. Big smiled deviously. "Remember, the one by the harbor?"

Nick thought for a moment and his eyes opened wide when he did remember. He looked to Judy and then to Mr. Big. Judy seemed both confused and concerned, whereas Mr. Big kept that same smile.

"Judy told me you were in the bar with him last night. Remember that voice?" The shrew was now showing some of his teeth as he smiled.

How could Nick have been so oblivious. That unmistakable voice. He should have known the moment Andy started talking. He started breathing heavily as he the thought of the 'job' they did together came to mind. Directly he did nothing particularly bad, but after quickly connecting the dots he discovered that he help Andy do what he needed to do. Which according to the news the next day and what Mr. Big told him, it was something that will from this moment on haunt him.

He pressed his paw against his heart and felt it racing. "Air. I need air." He muttered and stood up to go outside. His path was blocked by the polar bears, which was then motioned to let him pass by Mr. Big. Nick got out of the room and out of the house as fast as he could.

"Nick!" Judy called out and ran after him.

She came outside and saw him standing by a leafless tree. he leaned against it for support as he tried to regained his breath. Judy slowly moved up close to him and placed her paw on his shoulder.

"Nick." She said softly.

"Judy. I-I. I can't..." He started shaking as the tears started to run down his face. He tried to hold back the pain, but the sudden shock was just to much to take in.

He cried and it simply broke Judy's heart seeing him like this. She didn't know what to do and simply wrapped her arms around him as an attempt to comfort him. He hugged her back and cried into her shoulder, letting out all the pain he had come to know in such a short time.

Eventually he started to calm down. Judy looked up at him and used her paw to wipe away some of the tears left on his fur. "It's okay, Nick. I'm here." She said gently.

Nick took in a deep breath and let it out again. "Thank you Judy. I'm _so sorry._ I did a terrible thing, but I didn't know."

"Let's go back to the apartment and you can tell me about." Judy suggested, wanting to be in a more comfortable environment.

Nick nodded in response. Judy let Mr. Big know that she wouldn't be able to have brunch with Fru Fru. Mr. Big understood, considering he caused it. The ride back to the apartment was filled with silence. Judy every so often looked over at Nick as he seemed lost in his own tormenting thoughts.

* * *

 **09:48, The apartment building.**

Nick and Judy walked into the apartment building, closing the door behind them.

"Mr. Trueman." Said the receptionist. "A package arrived for you this morning."

Nick looked up at her and tried to mask the pain with a fake smile. "R-really?"

"At least I think it's for you. I was told to give it to the red fox with the green Hawaiian shirt visible under his jacket." She explained, feeling weird having to repeat that.

Judy raised an eyebrow. "That's quite the description. Does it say who it's from?"

She looked at the package. "No, no it doesn't"

Nick walked up to her and took the small brown box. "Thank you." He said scanning the box.

She smiled in response and the two officers went upstairs. They entered their apartment and placed the box on the counter by the kitchen. Judy eyed it suspiciously.

"Do you think it's from HQ?" She asked.

"More likely from Chris." Nick said and used his clew to rip through the tape holding it closed.

He carefully opened it and found a burner phone inside. Nick and Judy looked at each other for a moment both looking puzzled. He removed it and turned it on. His fingers felt something at the back of the cellphone and he turned it to find a paper with a number on it.

"Why would we need a burner phone? We have walkie-talkies." Judy asked confused.

"I don't know." Nick muttered.

He pressed in the numbers from the paper and with a quick look at Judy, who nodded at him, dialed the number. It rang a few times while Nick waited for an answer. The ringing stopped and someone started to speak.

"Mr. Nickolas Wilde." Said that unmistakable deep calm voice. "It's been awhile."

"No. How did you...? Nick trailed off trying to get his head around this. He felt his heart sink and fill with hate and regret.

"I know your identity Nickolas. Even if you didn't know mine. Also, I hear your a cop now, very noble life change."

Nick swallowed hard. "So what's with the burner?"

"I didn't know when you'd be back and I wanted to talk as soon as you arrived. I would have used Christoper's walkie-talkie, but I couldn't risk it being traced."

"What did you do with Chris?" Nick asked angry at the thought of Andy hurting him.

Judy gasped and her eyes widened. She was able to hear the conversation thanks to hear advanced hearing. She started to feel scared, which was unlike her.

"Don't worry. His still alive and in good condition, for _now_."

"What do you _want_?" Nick was filling up with rage.

"This is not a negotiation Mr. Wilde. Your friend is only still alive because I want to deal with all three of you at the same time. I _will_ kill you, but it's up to you how many lives will be at risk. The more others see or hear, the higher the body count. It's nothing personal, just can't have any loose ends."

Andy hung up and Nick was left struggling to breathe. He dropped the phone to floor and looked at Judy. She had an expression of utter horror on her face. This was the kind of thing he feared from the beginning.

"Nick? What do we do?" Judy asked utterly horrified.

The sly smooth talking fox didn't have an answer.

* * *

 **Note:** Nice little cliffhanger don't you think.

Nick's past has come back to haunt him. How will he manage with both the pain of his past and the threat to him, his friend, mate and anyone else unlucky enough to get in the way? This and more will be answered soon enough.

Hope you enjoyed and as always leave a review to let me know what you thought of the chapter and even your thoughts on Mr. Kozlov. have a great day/night.


	7. Chapter 7

**Note:** Sorry everyone for ending on a cliffhanger and then taking a bit long to update. Just to let you know I've decided to write the Russian in the normal letters (Well normal to me anyway) so that you could try to pronounce them if you want. Keep in mind I used google translator to do this so if you do speak Russian and what is said there makes no sense then you may blame google.

* * *

 **A random (and different) alley-way with a familiar white van**

Andy Koslov ended the call and threw the phone into the snow a few feet away. He looked back at the van where a wombat stepped out of.

"Sistemy byli unichtozheny, ser (Systems have been wiped, sir)." The wombat informed him.

"Khorosho. Sadites' v mashinu i sdelat' dlya bezopasnogo doma (Good. Get in the car and make for the safe house)." Andy ordered. He smiled, straightened his jacket and slightly lifted his fedora. "Your next, Nick. You and your little bunny friend." He said to himself.

Another wolf then approached him. "My gotovy , chtoby poluchit' dva drugikh (We are ready to get the other two)."

"Prodolzhit' i prinyat' etot furgon na svalke (Proceed and take this van to the junkyard)." He commanded the wolf and started to walk to the black SUV.

He got into the left back seat and closed the door with a **thud**. In the drivers seat was another wolf and across him was the wombat. Next to Andy sat Christoper with muzzle on and a thick rope tide around his wrists. He also had a blindfold on him to make sure he didn't see anything.

"Don't worry Christoper my friend. This wont go on for too much longer. Soon you'll meet your friends again and we can take care of this situation." Andy told him and motioned the driver to start the car and go.

* * *

 **Back at the apartment**

Nick was busy packing away his stuff in his bag as fast as he could. When he was finished he picked it up and went to the kitchen. Judy stood there with her arms crossed and with a worried look on her face.

She looked at Nick when he came to her. "Nick, we can't just leave. They'll kill Chris."

"Waiting here for them to come and take us wont help either. Andy made it perfectly clear that he simply wants us _dead_." Nick said, frustrated with everything.

"Nick, calm down." Judy tried.

"I can't calm down Judy." Nick's voice cracked a bit. It was all getting to him. "I-I helped this _monster_ to commit a _crime_! Now his seen my face and knows we've come for him. Which caused him to come after us." Nick said grabbing his head and closing his eyes shut.

Judy tried her best to stay strong for Nick's sake. Her partner was hurting and needed her. She slowly approached him and placed her paw on his chest. "Nick, we're going to get through this. You, me and Chris are going to make it out alive."

Nick took controlled breaths to help ease his nerves. "I know, I know."

"And remember Nick." She stared into his eyes. "No matter _what_ happens I'll be by your side." She reassured him

Nick nodded. "Thank you Carrots."

The rooms telephone started to ring and the two mammals looked at each other. Nick gulped and walked over to the phone. He took one look at Judy then picked up the phone. "Mr. Trueman speaking. How can I help you?"

"Uh... Mr. Trueman. There are some men here to see you." Said the receptionist. "They say their boss arranged a pick up for you to take part in a meeting."

There was a moment of silence while Nick tried to formulate a response. "What's your name?" Nick asked her.

"Candice." She answered with a confused tone in her voice.

"Candice, tell them to come and get us at the apartment. I'm just taking care of a few things before I can go. When they come up I want you to leave." Nick instructed her.

"Excuse me sir?"

"Don't ask questions. Please just leave out the back door if you can. Trust me." Nick knew that she was likely to be the first 'casualty' should this go wrong. He needed her to get out while she still could.

"Okay sir. I'll do that."

Nick heard the phone on the other end being placed back where it belongs. He did the same with the phone in his paw and looked over at his worried partner. "Their here."

Judy felt her body tense up and her paws shaped into fists. Her adrenaline was raising and it was now time to choose between fight or flight.

Nick pulled out a taser gun from his jackets pocket. "I'll hold 'em back as long as I can. You make a break for it."

"Nick I'm not leaving you." Judy said sternly.

"No, your simply gonna remain out of sight. If I get caught follow us back to wherever they take me and send in the cavalry." Nick said and leaned against the wall next to the door.

"Nick, I-" Judy tried.

"Go!" Nick yelled at her.

She ran for the fire exit and started making her way down as fast as she could. Meanwhile Nick waited by the door. He heard foot steps approach and then a knock on the door. Nick remained quiet and heard them say something in a language that definitely wasn't English.

In the next moment the door was kicked open by one of the wolfs. The wolf struggled a bit to get in due to the his size compared to that of the living space. This apartment wasn't meant for animals his size.

Nick took the shot and tasered the unsuspecting wolf. He felt the electricity run through his leg, where he was shot, to the rest of his body. He groaned in pain and fell back. Nick was ready to take the next shot.

"We have the girl fox. You wouldn't want her white fur to be all covered in red." Said another wolf.

Nick knew then that they took Candice prisoner. There was nothing he could do without putting her in harms way. Even though not doing anything would do the same. He dropped his gun and stepped out with his paws in the air.

"That's better." Said the wolf holding Candice.

"Dumb fuck shot me in the leg. You'll pay for that." Said the first wolf as he slowly got back up.

Nick looked at Candice. She was held in the air by the second wolf, terrified by the situation. Judy was now his last hope. _Their_ last hope.

* * *

 **Unknown location somewhere in a basement**

Christoper hung by his arms by pawcuffs attached to a chain. His feet were only a few inches from the floor, but he was high enough to feel the fool effect of the strain on his arms, shoulders and wrists.

"Comfortable?" Andy asked sarcastically.

"No! I feel like my arms want to fall off." Chris retorted.

Andy chuckled and stepped closer. "Keep in mind that we have haven't actually tortured you. luckily for you there's no information we want about your mission that your computers hasn't already provided."

"So how are you gonna do it? Do I have to dig my own grave or something?" Chris asked, keeping his eyes on the wolf.

"Not a bad idea, but no. Your deaths will be quick and painless. _Provided_ you don't try anything. What we do with your bodies afterwards is hardly any concern to you." He told Chris, eyeing the chain he hung from.

" _Painless_ you say. Not to call you a liar, but my arms are telling me a different story." Chris said and grunted at the feeling from hanging like that.

Andy walked over to a table that had a few tools, knives and other strange equipment on it. Along with that was a bottle of vodka. he picked it up and poured some of the liquid in a small glass. After placing the bottle back down he picked up the glass and walked back to Chris.

"Drink." He told the jackal.

Chris eyed the vodka. "Would have preferred some strong scotch as a last drink, but I ain't a picky prisoner."

Andy chuckled again and helped Chris drink it. Chris exhaled strongly after taking the drink. "Yeah, that will do. You treat all your body bag stuffing like this?"

"Only the ones I like." Andy said and made for the door. "I may just kill you in first to save you from watching your friends die."

" _Oh yes,_ die first that way when someone comes to save us last minute I'll be to dead to be happy and cheerful about it." Chris said with anger mixed into his voice.

Andy smiled and exited the room. Leaving Chris alone, still hanging from his arms.

"Insignificant canine." He muttered.

He looked over to the table and noticed that some of the equipment still had some dry blood on it. It made him feel sick to his stomach. "Not to worry. Nick and Judy are probably on there way right now to save me."

* * *

 **Outside the apartment building  
**

Judy stood close to the fire exit hiding behind a dumpster. She breathed heavily, trying to get here oxygen intake under control again. Thanks to her rabbit ears she heard Nick tasering one of them, but then she got to far from them to really make out what happened next.

She peaked around the dumpster and saw the hood of a black SUV. " _Must be their ride."_ She thought to herself.

After a moment of waiting she heard the sound of doors opening and then closing. The SUV roared to life and started moving forward. When it had moved away from the building Judy quickly ran to where it was. With her phone she snapped a picture of it's license plate before it got too far away. She knew she couldn't follow it without alerting them and there also weren't any available vehicles near her.

She'd had to use a few tricks Nick taught her to figure out where the SUV went to. She was going to save her dumb fox and bring down Andy Koslov at the same time. Last time she was this determined was when she placed her career on the line to solve a dead end case and prove herself to everyone.

Nick and Candice sat at the back of the SUV tide up with muzzles and blindfolds. Nick tried to stay calm, mostly for the civilians sake. He hated muzzles, no, he despised the very idea of one. Convincing himself that it was placed on him because he was a captive and not because he was a fox helped him coup. They probably did this with all the predators.

He heard the heavy breathing from Candice. Poor girl, she was just doing her job and now look where she is. Another mammal he unintentionally caused harm to thanks to the work of that damn heartless wolf.

"It's okay, we'll get through this." He said to her. Thankfully the muzzle was still big enough to allow his mouth to slightly move as he spoke.

All she could do was nod even though Nick couldn't see it. She left out a few sobs and sniffed as well.

"Come on carrots. You can do this." He whispered to himself.

Judy just got off the phone with chief Bogo after having informed him about the turn of events. She put her phone away and made for the apartment. She hoped the laptop was still there. She'd need it to track down Koslov's men. She ran into the building through the front door and stopped in her tracks.

In front of her by the receptionists desk was a broken computer, a magazine on the floor and some scattered papers. "Shit!" She cursed.

As she went back upstairs she quickly texted the chief to inform him about the civilian captive. She remembered how Nick talked about 'surviving' this. Never did she imagine it would go down like this. After getting into the apartment she looked around for the bags. Luckily they were still there on the floor. " _They must have been in a hurry to miss that."_ She thought.

She opened the bag containing the laptop, removed it and placed it on the table. The moment it turned on she entered the ZPD's system and started her search for the vehicle. She used everything from traffic cameras to who the SUV was registered to and what suspicious looking properties they owned. Eventually she came across a warehouse not to far from here.

"This could be it." She muttered.

After a CCTV camera caught sight of the vehicle with that same license plate driving to it she felt sure of it. The angle the camera was in didn't actually show the SUV enter the building, but there was just no way it could be a coincidence. Now all that was left to call in the cavalry, save everyone and take Andy Koslov to jail.

* * *

 **Note:** End of another cliffhanger... I mean chapter.

I just wanted to say thanks so much for everyone who followed, faved and reviewed this story. It truly means a lot. I'll try to get the next chapter up soon. Till then feel free to review, fav and follow. Have a great day/night everyone.


	8. Chapter 8

Chris looked at the ground with his eyes half closed. His ears were flattened, but then they raised at the sound of mammals coming down the stairs. He heard the door being unlocked and then opened. His eyes widened when he saw Nick walk in with his wrists tide up, a blind fold around his eyes and a muzzle on his snout.

He seemingly lost all hope, expecting Judy to be right behind Nick. Instead he saw another fox, an arctic fox. This confused him since he didn't know who she was. His eyes then moved away from the two foxes and caught sight of Andy.

The wolf seemed displeased and motioned his crew towards Chris. Two wolves walked up to him and loosened his his pawcuffs, causing him to fall to his knees. Chris grunted a few times as he brought his aching arms into a more natural potion.

The wolves then moved over to Nick and Candice. They removed their muzzles and blind folds. After that they forced them down to their knees next to Chris.

Andy sighed as he slowly walked up to them. "I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is I wont be killing you just yet. The bad news is that since my colleagues have failed to capture your little bunny friend, we are at risk of being hunted by the ZPD."

"How is that bad news for us?" Nick asked.

"It means I have to go off the grid and that costs me time, money, jobs and so on." He started to raise his voice. "It means by the time I'm done with you, you'll be beginning me to kill you for interfering with my work."

Nick's ears fell back and flattened. That actually scared him. Andy was a cold blooded killer when he was calm and simply 'doing his job'. Nick couldn't begin to imagine what his like when his angry.

Andy faced the others. "Poluchit' oruzhiye nagotove. Nam mozhet ponadobit'sya ikh, yesli my khotim , chtoby vybrat'sya otsyuda (Get the guns ready. We may need them if we want to get out of here)."

They nodded and went back up stairs. Andy walked to the door and closed it, he then made his way over to the table. He examined all the different items and then faced his prisoners.

"When the ZPD eventually get here I want them to find a fresh splatter of blood on the floor. Any volunteers?" Asked them in a more calm manner.

Meanwhile Judy got picked up by officers Johnson and Snarlof who were already patrolling in Tundratown. They were on their way to the warehouse, but were told not to engage until more back up arrives. This didn't sit to well with Judy. The more time they spent waiting, the more time Nick and the others have to endure with that murderer.

"Can't we go any faster?" She asked impatiently.

"No, we can't alert them that we're coming. Least not till-" Johnson tried to explain.

"Back up arrives. Yes I know." She rudely cut him off.

Johnson shrugged it off knowing that shes going through a tough time. Any officer that had their partner captured would be eager to save them before something bad happens.

Judy looked up at the roof of the car and closed her eyes. " _Just hold on a little longer, Nick."_

"We're here." Officer Snarlof, who was driving, announced.

Judy sat up straight and looked out of the window. "How long?"

"We got three SUV's ETA 5 minutes and a helicopter in less than that." Officer Johnson told her.

Judy bit her lower lip and kept looking out the window. She needed to be brave. Still, 5 minutes was a lot and so much can happen in that little time.

Andy had equipped his right paw with brass knuckles and fiddled with his fingers to make sure it fit nicely. "I asked you all nicely. Don't make me pick one of you. You might not like my choice." He said facing Candice.

"Your not seriously going to hit a girl are you?" Chris asked disgusted at the wolf.

"No, I'm giving one of you two a chance to be a hero." He said pointing at Nick and Chris.

"If your gonna hit me, then you best make sure I get amnesia, cause once I get the chance I'm taking you down." Nick threatened calmly, but with a stern expression.

Andy smiled and looked back at Chris. "I'll take your comrades answer as a maybe. What of you? Are you willing to take a hit on behalf of her?"

Chris looked at the female arctic fox. She was terrified and tears were still dripping down her face. His eyes then adjusted to look at Nick who didn't take his eyes off of Andy. Chris faced the ground.

"Mind if I get another shot of vodka first?" He asked feeling defeated.

Nick came back to his senses. "You can't. Hit me instead, Koslov."

"Too late Nickolas." Andy walked back to the table and pored some vodka into a small glass.

He came back and again and helped Chris drink it. When Chris was done Andy threw the glass against the wall, causing it to shatter.

Nick got on his feet to try and stop Andy, but he immediately pulled out a pistol and aimed it at Nick's legs.

"Back on your knees, before I shoot your legs." Andy warned him.

Nick slowly sat back down, with a new sense of fear overcoming him. He watched helplessly as Andy retracted his arm and brought his right fist down on Chris's face.

Judy couldn't keep herself calm no matter how hard she tried. Every minute felt like an hour and every hour seemed longer than the last. She kept fiddling with her fingers as she stared out the window. Her ears then suddenly perked up as the sound of a helicopter came into ear shot.

She looked to the sky's in search of it and in just a few seconds it appeared before them. The helicopter cam close to the ground and let down a rope on both sides with an officer holding onto it. A tiger and a Leopard dropped down, each armed with a rifle class taser on their backs. They equipped the weapons and scanned out the surrounding area.

After that the three police SUV's arrived with there sirens alerting everyone of there presence. Out of them stepped a couple of rhinos, wolves a polar bear and Chief Bogo himself. He started giving orders left and right.

"Alright, officer Hopps." Officer Johnson started. "This is going to be dangerous. Stay at the back of the big guys and take this." He handed her a taser.

Judy took it and nodded at him in agreement. They all got out of the SUV and joined the others. Judy walked up to chief Bogo with her taser at the ready and a determined look on her face. Bogo looked down at her and instantly new he wouldn't be able to talk her out of going in.

"Officer Hopps. Are you sure this is the place?" He asked her.

"Yes chief." She confirmed.

"I brought you a bullet proof vest. Put it on and stay behind the rhinos, there our front line. Secondly, you are to stay out of combat if possible and concentrate on extracting the hostages." The chief ordered her.

"Will do chief." She said and went for her vest.

She had no problem with being assigned to stay out of combat and freeing the hostages. They were after all her main concern and her getting shot in the process would work against that.

"Okay, we're going in!" Shouted chief Bogo.

The one rhino charged the door and smashed it down with ease. He wasn't met with any resistance and announced. "Entrance clear!"

The other officers entered the building and split up. The tiger, leopard, and one polar bear took the first floor. A rhino, lion, wolf and another polar bear took the ground level. Finally Chief Bogo, a Rhino, wolf and Judy took the basement.

The group heading for the basement advanced slowly as they came to a double door. Chief Bogo peaked through one of the windows and didn't see much other than some wooden creates an empty table with some chairs around it and a deck of cards scattered all over it.

The chief motioned for the rhino to go first and aim to the front, the wolf to the left and he'd go right. He then nodded at the rhino who proceeded to bust through the door. Each one stood where they were told to be and scanned for anything suspicious.

They saw another door to the far end and was about to go for it when a wolf popped out from behind a create and opened fire on them with a pistol.

"Take cover!" Chief Bofo yelled and they each went behind a create.

The wolf fired off three rounds and went behind cover again. Another sound of gunfire came from upstairs alerting the mammals. Chief Bogo got his upper body out of cover and aimed at the spot where the wolf was. A moment later the wolf came back up to fire again. Both animals shot at each other. The wolf was caught in the shoulder and the electric shock pinned him to the ground. The bullet thankfully missed the chief as it wasn't very well aimed.

Chief Bogo then motioned the their wolf (officer Wolford) to move forward with caution. Officer Wolford complied and ran from cover to cover till he finally got to the downed wolf. He gave a signal to confirm that he was down. The group moved forward and went for the door.

"Officer Fangmeyer, what is your status?" Chief Bogo asked through the radio.

"One officer hurt, but not badly. Two wolves and a wombat detained."

"Copy."

The rhino once again busted down the door while Wolford cuffed the other wolf. The rhino came down to another door at the bottom and yet again busted it down. When he and the others came through they met a horrible sight.

Chris laid on the floor motionless with a beaten face and splatters of blood on and around him. Andy stood above two foxes knelt down on the floor. A gun to Nick's head and knife to Candice's throat. He had a devilish smile plastered across his face.

"Taser me and my muscles _stiffen_. Whit my finger on the trigger I don't think that's a plan." Andy stated.

"Your not getting out of _this_ , Andy Koslov." Judy said standing next to the chief.

"I know that. I have don't plan on escaping anymore, but I do want to go out having made a _mark_ on at least one officer that brought me _down_." he said.

"What are you talking about?" Asked Chief Bofo.

"The jackal is unconscious, but alive. His taken his hit, but these two. We'll little bunny, your gonna have to choose who lives and who dies." Explained the assassin.

Judy's heart instantly dropped. How could this be happening. Her body stiffened and her grip on the taser tightened.

"Judy, listen to me." Nick started. "You have to save the civilian. It's your _duty_."

"I'm not going to choose!" Judy shouted.

"A shame. I'll have to kill both than." Andy's smiled started to look more like that of a psychopath.

Candice, who's eyes were already blood red from crying started to sob uncontrollably again. Nick took to comforting her.

"Hey hey, Candice. It's okay. It's going to be okay." Nick tried.

Candice looked at him with her tear stained face.

"Chris, the guy on the floor. No no, don't look at him." Nick stopped her from looking at the beaten form of Chris.

"He made sure, you didn't get hurt." Nick gulped. "And I'm going to make sure you don't get killed."

"Hey scar face!" Nick called out Andy. "If your gonna shoot me at least face me when you do so."

Andy's smile grew. "So it'll be my old comrade."

He removed the knife from Candice's throat and stood back to allow Nick to get up and face him.

"Nick! Don't!" Judy shouted, the tears forming in her eyes.

"Do svidaniya, ofitser Wilde (Goodbye officer Wilde)." Was the last thing Andy said.

A shot was fired and Judy actually felt her heart stop. However, after a second went by she noticed that Andy didn't fire his gun. Instead he fell to the ground and remained motionless with a bullet wound in between his eyes.

Nick dropped to his knees once again and shook his head as he started to shiver and sob. Judy with her mouth gaped and her eyes wide looked up at the chief and saw him holding a pistol of his own. The chief looked at her and motioned with his head for her to attend to Nick.

Judy dropped her taser and ran over to her mate as fast as she could. She embraced him from the side and he hugged her back. "It's over now, Nick. It's over." She whispered as his tears rolled down her shoulder.

Officer Wolford came to Chris and checked if he was still breathing. "His alive." He announced.

Candice gave a sigh of relief and looked up at chief Bogo as he placed his hoof on her small back. "Come on ma'am. Lets get you out of here."


	9. Chapter 9

**Note:** Hello everyone!

The response in the last chapter was amazing. Thank so MUCH to everyone you fav, followed and reviewed! It really means a lot to me and motivated me to try and get this chapter out as sooner than I would have.

* * *

Nick sat at the back of an ambulance on a bed big enough for a wild beast. An elk had checked his vitals and confirmed that he was okay other then being in shock. However, Judy who was sitting next to him and had managed to calm him down. Nick took a small blanket on the bed and wrapped it around the two of them and Judy responded by snuggling into him.

He just wanted to be there with her for as long as possible. He placed his faith in her and she came through for him. It might have been chief Bogo that pulled the trigger, but it was Judy's quick thinking and tracking skills that brought them there in time.

Chris had been taken the hospital in Savannah Square were the environment suited him better. Candice insisted on going with him and finally seemed to calm down herself. Things could have gone so much worse, so he had much to thankful for.

Chief Bogo walked up to the two officers as they snuggled together and comforted one another with their warmth.

"Officers Hopps and Wilde. How are you holding up?" He asked sincerely.

"We'll a... we'll be fine chief." Nick answered.

"Well you two have successfully managed to bring down Andy Koslov and his men. The ZPD have been hunting him for years and haven't managed to get any evidence on him." The chief explained.

"Why do I feel that that _isn't_ the end of it." Nick said a bit skeptical.

"The whole point of this was to bring down the mammal Andy was _working_ for. We plan on questioning the others and see if we can't get any info out of them." Chief Bogo informed them.

"Do you want us to do the questioning, sir?" Judy asked him.

"No, the two of you will have the rest of the day off. However, the case itself is still _yours_." He crossed his arms and waited for a reply.

Nick looked down at Judy and she looked back at him. Without saying a word they agreed on the same thing. "We'll do it chief." Nick confirmed.

The chief seemed to smile for a second. "Great. Your belongings will be picked up at the apartment and brought back to the ZPD where you can retrieve them."

With that he walked away and one by one all the vehicles started to leave the place. Nick and Judy remained in the ambulance still holding onto one another and simply enjoying this moment of peace.

Eventually they got to the ZPD and got all their belongings, before getting on a taxi to Judy's place. Once they arrived Judy insisted that Nick stay awhile since she didn't want him to be alone right now. Nick didn't really resist as he wanted to be in Judy's company as well.

"Just put your bags on the floor." She gestured to the floor of her apartment.

Nick did as he was told. "I know you weren't expecting anyone, but do you have anything to eat?" He asked putting on his trademark grin.

Judy smiled at his stupid grin. She was thankful that this didn't get to him and that she could be there for him. "No, sorry. I didn't know when we'd be back."

"That's fine. We can always order a pizza." Nick suggested.

"Sounds good. Just nothing with fish or bugs please." She reminded him.

"Sure thing, Carrots." Nick said and dialed a pizza place.

He placed in an order for a fox size pizza and some soda along with it. After the call was finished he put his phone back in his pocket and sat on the seat by the desk.

"It'll be here in 15 minutes." He informed her.

"What do wanna do till then?" Judy asked tilting her head slightly to the right.

"Lets look at our options, shall we." Nick started. "We can watch your walls degrade, listen to music in a room we can't dance in-" He snapped his fingers together as if we came up with the best idea. "-We can read one of the hundreds of past case files on your laptop."

Judy rolled her eyes at his sarcasm. "Ha ha, very funny. And last time I checked you basically just stand in one place when you dance, Moving your arms around like your getting ready to box someone."

"How else do you stay prepared for a fight while still having fun. It's called multitasking." He said in defense, leaning his one arm over the back of the chair.

"It's called being dull and boring. I mean you look half drunk with your grin and half lidded eyes." She said gesturing at his face.

"A facial expression that you know you can't resist." Said the sly fox with his grin and half lidded eyes.

"Dumb fox." Was all Judy could come up with in response.

The pizza soon arrived and the two of them took their time eating it as they constantly joked about. Before they knew it the clock had struck 7pm and ayawning Nick thought it was a good time to head on home.

"I got to got to say, Carrots. The rest of the day was quite enjoyable. Despite the lack of things to do." Nick commented.

"I'm just glad it all turned out okay. Other than Chris's injuries of course. We should visit him at the hospital." Judy said with a lighter tone.

"He took quite a beating, but I'm sure Candice is by his side." Nick assured her.

"Speaking of which." Judy looked down at the floor with her ears behind her back. "I-I was wondering if you maybe-" She looked back at him. "-Wanted to stay for the night."

Nick was caught of guard with that question. Sure they slept together -just plain sleeping -back in Tundratown, but that was cause Nick was so unprepared for the cold weather. Now though, it was more for the purpose of feeling safe and secure with the one you trust with your life.

"I mean." She continued. "Your clothes and things are already here, so it's very convenient."

Nick decided to handle this the best he could and see what came out of it. "This beds much smaller. You sure you don't mind me wrapped up around you?"

Judy felt herself blush, thankfully light enough for Nick not to see it. "T-that's basically what you were doing in the ambulance."

Nick cupped her cheek and stared into her eyes. "May be a little to much warmth for the current weather."

Judy's noise twitched as she stared back. "W-what do you mean?"

Nick closed the gap between them in a kiss and they stayed that way for half a minute. When they parted they each took a few quick breaths.

Nick grinned. "Like I said, Carrots. I sleep without a shirt on. I hope you don't mind." He stood up and got his back to take the things he'd need to get ready for the night.

By the time Judy fully came back to her senses Nick had already closed the bathroom door. The sound of it closing caused her ears to shoot up and her eyes to widen.

"What just happened?" She softly asked herself.

" _You agreed to sleep with him half naked."_ Came the muffled voice from next door.

" _Just try to keep it down."_ Came another voice.

Judy could feel her entire face heat up from embarrassment. Her neighbors just heard all of that. She placed her paws in front of her mouth and gasped lightly. She really needed to get a more private apartment or go to Nick's more often. Though since their pay is the same his place probably wouldn't be much better. Maybe they could share an apartment. Not a bad idea, but a topic for another time.

She looked at the bathroom door and heard the sound of the shower as it started to spray out water. She placed her paws on her lap faced her desk, wondering what to do now. Her question was soon answered when her phone started to ring. She removed from her pocket and bit her teeth together nervously when she saw who it was.

It was probably _the_ worst time for her parents to be calling her. She put on the best fake smile she could muster, which was a very convincing one actually, and answered the phone.

"Hey mom and dad. How are you doing?"

"We're quite alright sweetie." Her mom answered.

"The question should be how are _you_ , Judy.?" Stu said pointed his finger at the screen. "You haven't contacted us for a while now and we've been worried sick."

"Sorry about that. Just got really caught up in work is all." She said, which wasn't necessarily a lie.

"What kind of wo-" Stu's ears perked up and his eyes stared into the sky's as he listened at something. "Is that a shower I hear? You are at home right?"

Judy's eyes went from left to right as she looked for a convincing answer. "Yeah, I'm at home..." She tried to stall. "I'm... just having... trouble with plumbing." She finally came up with a lie.

"So there's a plumber checking everything out." Her smile looked more nervous now.

Stu was skeptical. "At this time of night?"

"It's a 24hour service, besides I can't go into work tomorrow without taking a shower." She was hoping this would work, but the sound of the shower kept on going which worried her.

"Come now Stu, these things happen. There's no need to interrogate her." Bonny told her husband.

"I guess. As long as it ain't a fox. That's how they'll get into your homes you know." Stu warned her.

Judy sighed at her dads continued distrust for foxes. "Dad, my partner in the ZPD is a fox. Your _working_ with one."

"Just because two foxes aren't that bad doesn't mean others will be the same." Stu pointed out.

"Well mom and dad I'm doing fine, but I got to go." She tried to end the conversation.

"Alright deary, just don't be a stranger now." Her mom said cheerfully.

"Sure thing, mom."

"And tell that plumber not to waist to much water. I still hear that shower running and water isn't free you know."

"Yes dad, love ya." She said and ended the call.

She sighed in relief and fell back on the bed with her back, dropping the phone next to her. _Wonderful_ , now she had to figure out a way to tell her parents about her and Nick as more than just police partners. The shower was finally turned off and she could hear Nick stepping out.

"Now you stop." She muttered.

" _Next time call_ them _before he showers."_ One of the voices of her neighbors came through the wall.

After both of them had gotten ready for the night Nick removed his T-shirt and was left with just his trunks on. His back was facing Judy who simply stared at him. The academy has done good work on Nick's body and the tips of her ears became pink face when he turned to face her.

"You sure you don't mind, Carrots?" Nick asked and noticed how she tried to avert her eyes.

Her eyes kept bouncing back at his bare chest. "N-no, Nick. It's fine."

Judy walked passed him and got into bed. Nick Joined her and wrapped himself around her from behind, only just fitting in the bed. Judy felt her nerves start to fade away and took in the relaxing feeling that came with Nick's embrace. She let out a light but joyful sigh and closed her eyes for the night. Nick relished in the moment and placed his snout on top of her head, effectively cuddling her like she was the softest pillow in the world.

* * *

 **21:35, The hospital**

Chris's one eye slowly opened as he started to wake up. He groaned as from the pain of his aching body. He looked around the room a bit till his right eye fell on the mammal sitting to his left. She seemed to be sleeping on the chair.

"H-hey, you awake?" He struggled to ask.

Thankfully she just had her eyes closed, _about_ to fall asleep. She opened them and stared at Chris, giving him a small smile. "Yeah, I'm still awake. H-how do you feel?"

"Like I was run over by a train from the waist up. Least it's not cold anymore." He said trying to muster his own smile.

"Well everything is okay now." She assured him.

"I never did catch your name." He told her.

"Candice. My name is Candice." She informed him.

"Thank you, Candice. For being here. I hope you didn't get hurt." He looked her over to see if there was any injuries.

"No. I'm okay. And I should be the one thanking you." She took his one paw in hers.

His smile grew slightly. "Just doing my job. Hows Nick?"

"He made it out okay. His was with a that bunny officer last time I saw." She decided to spare him the details for now.

Chris also didn't really care as long as everyone was alive and well. Besides, there was no reason to ruin the moment.

* * *

 **Note:** The end of another chapter. Thought Nick and Judy could use the day off. I'm trying to develop their relationship at a steady pace and decided that it would be a good time to bring Judy's parents into the picture.

Also I thought that since Chris was half dead in the last chapter that he deserved a little comforting scene of his own. Just to confirm that his OK.

Other than that I hope you all enjoyed. Feel free to fav, follow and/or review to let me know what you thought of it.

P.S. I don't plan on ending the story anytime soon for those who may have thought that Andy Koslov was the main bad mammal and with dead the story was coming to a close. Well his not... or wasn't. So rest assured that more chapter will be coming out.


	10. Chapter 10

**Note:** Hello everyone!

Sorry for the long wait. The good news is this chapter is slightly longer than my others and it answers a question that came up a few chapters back. So relax and enjoy.

* * *

Morning came around and a gray bunny laid peacefully in the embrace of a orange fox. Generally Judy would get up before her alarm went off, but she so deeply enjoyed this feeling that waking up that early just wasn't an option. Nevertheless, her alarm would still bring about a rude awakening to the sleeping pair.

An irritating buzz was heard coming from that infernal thing and Judy cringed at the sound of it, which was followed by an irritated moan. She turned around in the bed and came face to face with Nick who had just opened his eyes.

"Morning fluff. Ready for duty?" He asked with a smirk.

"Nooo." She complained and berried her face into his chest.

Nick thought it was just _the_ cutest thing in the world. Not that he'd use the word around her. He lightly kissed her on the head which caused her to look up at him once more.

"Chief buffalo-butt wont be too happy if we're late." He playfully informed her. "Besides, there's more than enough time for cuddles and snuggles later."

"Oh, get off." She said she said with an eye roll and a smile that wouldn't fade.

"Says the bunny who didn't want to let go just a second ago." Nick mused and got out of bed.

He adjusted his trunks and looked back at Judy who was scanning his firmed up form. "You know you like it."

"Oh do I?" She threw him with the pillow and he simply chuckled in response as he dodged it and went into the bathroom. "Yes, yes I do." She softly said to herself.

* * *

Clawhauser was having his usual breakfast at the front desk. His eyes looked up from his bowl when he saw Nick and Judy enter the building. They were teasing each other as they day almost everyday, but Clawhauser noticed something different. They were walking closer to each other, they kept eye contact for longer and most of all he could see the sparkle in their eyes.

His smile grew from ear to ear as they approached him. "Hey you two. How are things this morning?"

"It's good to be back at HQ." Nick said and took a quick peek at Judy.

"Not so cold here that's for sure." Judy added.

"Lots of reasons to like the weather huh, Carrots?" Nick smirked and received fist to his shoulder. "Ow!" He rubbed his shoulder.

Benjamin nodded with his still massive smile. "You know what I like about it? The heat really brings out the individual _and_ mixtures of smells."

"Um... okay." Judy said not quite getting the message.

Nick however grew wide eyed at the realization. He took a few sniffs of the air and started pushing Judy to the bullpen. "OK, well have a good day Ben. Keep those doughnuts outta your neck."

"What's going on with you, Nick?" Judy asked confused with his actions.

"Didn't you get what he was saying? 'Mixtures of smells'." He said making air quotes with his fingers.

"Isn't that just all the different flavored doughnuts by his desk?" She asked placing her right paw on her hip.

Nick looked around them to make sure no one was listening. "He smells our scent's on each other. I smell like you and you smell like me."

"What?" She said softly and a bit worried. "Who else can smell this?"

"Probably every predator here and it's just a matter of time before chief Bogo finds out." Nick placed his fingers in the bridge between his eyes.

"What do we do?" She asked concerned.

"Just act like you do everyday. If people ask questions just tell them about us sitting together in the ambulance yesterday. That should keep them satisfied and off our tails for some time." Nick explained.

"Sounds good." Judy agreed and they proceeded to the bullpen.

Thankfully the mammals were to busy in their own conversations to even notice the two of them. As usual chief Bogo stepped in and handed out assignments to everyone. After that he called Judy and Nick into his office to discuss the case.

The two small mammals sat down together on a large chair and waited for the chief to update them. Bogo searched through some files and looked at one or two before finding the one he was looking for. He opened it up and adjusted his reading glasses.

"Yesterday we interrogated the the three wolfs and wombat that were arrested at the crime scene." The chief informed them.

"Did anyone cooperate?" Judy asked.

"Not intentionally. One of the wolves unintentionally blurted out the name Yuri and the name of the casino you found on the flyer a few days back. Guess who owns the casino?" He asked and leaned forward.

"Yuri Petrov, his business a partner of Mr. Big." Nick said. " I think his a polar bear."

"So you know him?" Chief Bogo asked.

"Just heard of him. Never met him before." Nick momentarily looked to the floor, remembering his past work with Andy.

He wondered if there were any other jobs he did that involved more than he was told of. Mostly he wondered how many more people suffered because of him.

"Nick?" Judy asked and he snapped back.

"Huh?" he shook his head and looked at Judy.

"You OK?" She asked a bit concerned.

"Yes, I'm fine." He lied.

"Wilde, I need to know that your up for this. I understand if-"

"I want to finish the job sir." Nick interrupted.

Bogo wasn't to pleased with the interruption, but shook it off. "Good. Because this is our best opportunity to catch a crime boss and you two have made good progress so far."

They were then dismissed and proceeded to their cubicles, taking special care to avoid Benjamin. When they got there they sat down at their individual desks and started work on there next lead.

* * *

 **09:21, The hospital**

Candice blew on the steaming hot coffee she had in her paws. She'd spent the night at the hospital and needed some caffeine to start her day. Her boss was already informed of the events that took place and gave her a few days off for her to recover from the experience.

As she walked back to Chris's room she wondered whether she was just here because Chris had a kind of hero effect on her. One that would make someone think they like that mammal only because they saved your life. Then again, that other fox officer was the one willing to take the bullet. Maybe she just felt sorry for him or maybe she was plainly overthinking this.

She opened the door to his room and closed it again as she entered. The Jackal was busy watching the news and seemed weirdly interested for someone who just received painkillers. He looked at the screen with full focus, a raised eyebrow and nodded at every statement given.

"Hey Chris. Watching the news?" She asked in a friendly tone.

"Have ever noticed how everything in Zootopia begins with the letter Z? ZNN, Zoogle, ZPD it's ama _zz_ ing." He said stretching out the z from that last word.

"I guess it is. The doctors said that the anesthesia should wear oof in an hour or so." She took a sip of her coffee. "They had to do late night surgery after you had a seizure and that caused some internal bleeding."

"What does that mean, bleeding internally? I mean if your bleeding on the inside of your body aren't you still bleeding on the outside of your _internal_ organs. Or does it mean your organs are bleeding inwardly?" He pondered on that as if it was one of life's great mystery's.

Despite her concerns for him she couldn't help but giggle at him. "They also said you'll be needing some painkillers later on."

"Painkillers." He chuckled. "Who came up with that? You can't _kill_ pain. It's not a living thing."

Chris clearly got hit hard with the side effects and was probably gonna talk like this for awhile. Candice giggled again and thought if she should take a video and show it to him later.

"They should have called it pain _reducers_ , or painaway. You could _advertise_ that. Make the pain go away with _painaway_."

Yes, she was going to make a video and maybe even ask some random questions to add interest.

* * *

 **12:30, ZPD Headquarters**

Nick and Judy had basically spent the whole morning doing research on Yuri Petrov and his line of work. He owns the larges casino in Tundratown, takes fees from from small businesses in exchange for 'protection' and has ties with the harbor to help import his biggest means of profit. All but the first statement are unconfirmed and is merely what the ZPD believes. One things for sure and that's that the last fact made Nick uneasy.

Judy had been wanting to talk to Nick about what happened that night, but didn't say anything because of the situation he was in. Now was her chance though and she was eager to take it.

"Hey, Nick." Judy called him in a soft tone.

"What's up, Carrots?" Nick asked back as he looked over a few files.

"It's almost lunch and I thought we could use the time to talk about something." She said uneasily and bit her lower lip.

Nick stopped what he was doing and turned to face the bunny with a curios look. "What about?"

Judy looked at her desk for a moment as she thought on how to correctly word the sentence. "Y-you remember when we were at Mr. Big's place and he told you about the harbor?" She looked back at him, wondering how he was reacting to this so far.

Nick sighed and looked at the stack of files on his desk. "You wanna know what happened that night, huh?"

"I know it's hard for you, but I'm here for you Nick. You know that right?" She turned in her seat so that her whole body faced him.

Nick took a moment to think about it and looked back at Judy. "We'll be going back to Tundratown after lunch, so we might as well go and get something warm to where at your apartment. We can talk there." Not for moment did he look Judy in the eyes when he said this.

He stood up, grabbed what he needed and headed for the parking area where all the police vehicles where parked. Judy watched him as he walked with his head hanging in what she assumed was shame. She hated seeing him like this, but thought it best to do this before they got even deeper into both the case and their relationship.

She quickly packed away her things and ran up to the fox till she came up next to him and then walked at his pace. The two walked to the police cruiser in silence and the ride back to Judy's place was almost just as quiet. The only sound being that of the vehicles engine.

Once back at her apartment Nick made for his usual spot by her desk and sat down. Judy closed the door behind them and slowly made her way to him and sat down on his lap. She cupped his one cheek and stared him in the eyes.

"I'm all ears, Nick." She said calmly.

Nick sighed and looked down at the ground. "It was a few years back and Mr. Big had a job for me. He said it was a no questions asked job, but it paid well."

* * *

Nick sat in the passenger seat of Finnick's van. The van was parked by a parking lot near the city's harbor. It was around 22:30 and the two waited for the go ahead.

"How much did ya say this pays again?" Finnick asked in his surprisingly deep voice.

"250 _cash_. Easy payday, huh?" Nick said with his trademark grin and half lidded eyes.

Finnick though wasn't to sure about this. "Big bucks and zero questions usually spell trouble."

"Are you telling me _the Finnick_ is scared? The same Finnick that can make small mammals wet their pants just with his voice?" Nick teased him, which he didn't think was funny.

Finnick growled and glared at Nick. "I ain't scared of nothin'! But that also don't mean I'm stupid either."

"Your not even doing anything other than providing me with transport." Nick reminded him.

"Guess that's way I'm only gettin' a 20% cut. Just don't get yourself killed." He cautioned.

Nick chuckled. "Are you _worried_ about me?"

"I'm worried I wont get my cut if ya die on the job." He said more aggressively.

Finnick would never admit it, but he _was_ worried about his friend. He knew how these things could go wrong and didn't want Nick to be held at gunpoint or have his lifeless body get fished out of the river.

Soon Nick got a call from an unknown number. "Hello?" He answered.

"Zdravstvuy (Hello). This is Nick Wilde, correct?" Asked a deep calm voice.

Nick had no idea what that first word was, but shrugged it off. "That depends on who's asking."

"Your contact for the night. I'm sure Mr. Big informed you with the _necessary_ details."

"Yup. Just waiting on the go ahead." Nick leaned into his seat.

"Good. Proceed to the discussed entrance. Someone there will be waiting to open it for you. Once your in I'll call back."

"Sure thi-" Before he could finish the call ended. "Rude." He muttered.

"Alright Finn. I'll be back soon. Try not to miss me too much." He joked.

Finnick actually stood upright on his seat ready to pounce at Nick. Luckily for Nick he got out of the van fast enough.

"You best be comin' back from a successful job or I'll beat the the shit out of ya! You got that!?" Finnick warned.

"Keep it down." Was all Nick said before walking away in a hurry.

Finnick sighed and sat back down. "Dumb ass. You best not die out there." He muttered to himself.

Nick came up to a tall fence with electrical wires on top of it stretching from where the fence began to where it ended. There he saw a polar bear looking around and seemingly waiting for someone. " _That must be my way in."_ He thought.

When he came close the polar bear noticed him and removed a set of keys from his jackets pocket. He opened the small gate and let Nick in. Once Nick was inside the polar bear closed it and locked it up again.

"I'll be here when you get back. Don't be long." He informed Nick who nodded in response.

As Nick came to the large containers stacked all around the harbor his phone vibrated in his pocket. He took it out and saw that same unknown number. "I'm in."

"Good. There should be a large stack of yellow containers near you. Do you see them?"

Nick scanned his surroundings with his night vision really coming in handy. He kept walking as he looked around and finally spotted the yellow stack of containers. "OK, I see 'em."

"Look for the one tagged J117. The code is 2553."

Nick came up to the containers and looked at the tag for the closest one. "Not it." He muttered.

He came up to the second one and saw the tag he was looking for. A smile spread across his face and he entered the code. With the container unlocked he placed his phone on the ground for a moment and used both paws to pull it open. It wasn't an easy task, but thankfully container doors have been made litter and easier to open by smaller mammals.

Once open he picked up the phone and held it to his ear. "It's open. What am I looking for anyway?" He asked as he peaked inside.

"The only object inside."

The container was basically empty, except for a single metal create. Nick raised an eyebrow, but knew he couldn't ask what it was. "What do you want me to do with it?"

"You'll notice it's fastened to the floor and it has wheels at the bottom. Loosen it and push it out."

Nick put his phone away and did as he was told. He tried not to make any noise as there could be guards walking around. When he finally pushed it out he checked his phone and the call was still going on.

"Where to now?" He asked leaning on the create which was slightly smaller than him.

"Take it to warehouse A. Once there keep it out of sight and open the left hatch. You will see controls. Press _only_ the activate button and exit immediately afterwards." With that the call was ended.

Nick put away his phone and pushed the create to the location, trying to avoid getting spotted. When he finally reached the place he came to a back door. He had hoped that the door would have been left open. After placing his paw on the door knob he took a deep breath and turned it. To his delight it wasn't locked and he could enter.

He got inside and looked around. There were a few mammals in the distance doing some work and talking with one another. He decided it would be best to hide the create behind some of the larger creates and boxes. When he did so he proceeded to open the hatch and saw a colorful display of buttons, with two large ones in the middle. 'Activate' in a light green color and 'deactivate' in a red color.

"What's this?" He noticed something that looked like a small gas tank behind the controls.

However, a nearby conversation informed him that he didn't have time to mess around. He quickly pressed 'activate' and was ready to leave when he heard the sound of compressed gas being released from the create. He donned a quizzical look, but quickly shrugged it off and left. He was quite happy with this easy payday.

The next day he heard on ZNN how a toxic gas had leaked from a create at the harbor and killed 7 workers. The thought of it being from that create never even crossed his mind, but after finding out that he was working with an assassin there was no doubt in his mind that it was that very same create. His easy payday was at the cost of the lives of 7 innocent people.

All he did was push a create from point A to B, but the fact that _he_ was the one that activated it made him the murderer. He didn't know what he was doing, he didn't know who he was working for, he never for a second thought that Mr. Big would give him _such_ a job. Nevertheless, the deaths of those mammals where on his paws.

* * *

"Koslov was the kind of mammal who kept his paws clean as much as possible with his line of work. That's why he didn't mind paying a lowlife shifty fox to do his dirty work." Nick's story finally came to an end.

He kept his eyes shut, not wanting to see the horrid look on Judy's face. She said she would be there for him, but how could anyone love a killer. Even if that killer didn't know he was one till recently. He sighed heavily and opened his eyes.

* * *

 **Note:** Damn cliffhanger!

So there's the story of what Nick and Koslov did that night at the harbor. It may have been a simple act on Nick's part and the killing may not make much sense right now, but trust me this all plays a part in the bigger picture. I also slowly building up Chris and Candice's characters as later they will play a bigger part as well.

I also wanna say thank you to **TheCartograher** for suggesting a moment from Candice's point of view.

As always I hope you enjoyed and please fav. follow and/or tell me what you thought in the reviews. Have a great day/night.

P.S. There was an ester egg of a game in this chapter. Let me know if you found it.


	11. Chapter 11

**Note:** Oh yeah! **100 FOLLOWERS!**

This is an amazing achievement for me. Thank so so _very_ MUCH! It really means a lot to me so I tried to get this chapter up as soon as I could. But let me not take to much of your time. Enjoy the chapter and I'll be ya all at the bottom.

* * *

Judy still sat on his lap in silence. Her gaze was to the floor and her expression was unreadable. It was as if she was having an inner debate on how to process this information. Her nose twitched and her eyes finally looked at Nick. He could feel her body start to shake, but could tell whether it was from rage or an impending breakdown into tears.

It was both. The tears formed in her eyes and she jumped off of him. She started to cry and the anger mixed in with her sobs made Nick unsure of what to do. Should he comfort her? Wait for her to calm down? Leave?

He spoke before his mind could find the best solution. "Judy... I-"

"Stop, Nick. Just stop." Judy said and sat down on the floor with her back to the wall and her knees by her chest as she continued to cry.

Nick's ears fall back and he bit his lower lip as he tried to hold back his own pain. He wanted so badly to wrap his arms around Judy and to also be in her embrace, but he couldn't risk worsening things. At the same time he didn't want to just sit there and do nothing.

"I-I should probably leave." He got up from the chair and made his way to the door.

Halfway there he felt a soft paw grab his leg and he stopped to look down at Judy. Tears were still flowing down her face and a few sniffs escaped her, but her gaze wasn't one of hate or disgust. It was one of sympathy.

"Don't go, please." She begged him.

As strong as Nick tried to be in that moment a single tear did manage to drop down his face. He came down on one knee and stared Judy in her amethyst eyes. "I never meant to hurt anyone. I didn't even think what I was doing was anything close to that."

Judy sniffed again. "I know, Nick. I know you would never intentionally try to hurt anyone." She took a deep breath to help calm herself. "But there still dead Nick and your an officer."

Nick faced the ground in shame. "If the ZPD finds out, even if I don't go to prison cause I didn't know what I was doing I'd still be kicked off the force."

He stood up and than sat down on the bed, berrying his face in his paws. "And those animals. I can still remember their faces from the news report. It never crossed my mind after that, but now I see those images as clear as day."

Judy tilted her head slightly as she listened to him. A part of her did want to run away. Her instincts as cop told her to head to the ZPD, report him and get his sorry ass arrested. Her biological instincts told her to get as far away from that killer as possible. However, her believe that everyone can be a better mammal told her to stay.

She remembered how Nick was held at gunpoint. How he was nearly shot by the same mammal that tricked him into killing innocents. Andy Koslov was the real monster. Nick was just looking for an easy pay and got caught up in a mess that organized criminals put him in. Nick gave her a chance to escape Andy's crew and was prepared to take a bullet so that she didn't have to choose who lives and who dies between him and Candice.

That assured her that Nick wasn't a killer. He just had hard life and needed to do what he could to survive. Now his demons were coming back to get him. She wasn't going to let him face them on his own.

"This go's against what I stand for, but we're not going to let them find out." Judy reassured him.

Nick looked up from his paws. "But Judy, you-"

"I don't _care_ Nick. I told you that I'm here for you. I lost you once because of my foolishness with the Night-howler case. I nearly lost you _permanently_ because of an assassin. I am _not_ going to lose you again." She stood up and came close to him.

"We're in this together. We already took care of Andy. Now lets bring down the mammals he worked for." She whipped away her tears and gave Nick a confident look.

Without thinking Nick wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. "Thank you, Judy. Thank you for still believing in me." He whispered in her ears.

She hugged him back. "That's what partners are for. We stand by each other even through the toughest times."

* * *

 **13:20, Tundratown**

In an office designed for a polar bear sat a lone arctic shrew on his wooden chair atop the large desk. He rubbed his chin as he thought about a number of things. Mostly, he thought about the meeting that should take place any moment now.

Business has been rough lately. Two of his street dealers were arrested within 10 days of each other and a shipment of smuggled firearms were also uncovered by the ZPD. The police were getting better and he was losing a lot of money because of that. He needed to approach this with a new angle. That's why he was sitting here waiting to make a deal with a rival. Still, this rival could save both of them from losing too much business.

Soon the door opened and two of his polar bears stepped in. Behind them was another polar bear standing about as tall as his tallest polar bear guard. The large polar bear wore a black suit and had a intimidating presence. He sat down on a chair placed out for him and MR. Big signaled for his guards to leave.

"So I hear you have a proposition for me." Mr. Big said.

"Yes. We may have our differences, but we are also facing the same problem." He started. "So I believe an alliance is necessary, even if it's only a temporary one."

Mr. Big nodded and leaned to his left. "You make a good point. What is it that you have in mind?"

"First tell me. Is it true you still have something against your old pal Nicholas Wilde?" Asked the polar bear as he leaned in forward.

Mr. Big formed a scowl on his face. The most notorious crime boss in Tundratown humiliated by a shifty fox with his skunk-butt-rug. Sure the bunny his with saved his daughters life, but Nick and Judy were completely different mammals. He still felt that sense of betrayal.

He sat up straight in his seat. "Again I ask you. What is it that you have in mind, Yuri?"

* * *

 **13:44, Tundratown.**

"You know we've spent so much time here that I think I'm starting to get a winter coat." Nick stated as he drove the police cruiser on the icy road.

"Probably not a bad thing. We still have a lot to do if we want to catch this guy." Judy added.

"I have to admit I'm a bit worried. Yuri might know we're coming after him at this point. His not just going to site back and allow us to make progress." Nick scanned the road. Looking at several mammals as they drove by.

"Your right. We need to be careful and watch each others backs." Judy agreed.

"Always Carrots." Nick gave her a quick smile before focusing back on the road.

The bunny smiled back warmly and kept her gaze on Nick for just a little longer before facing the road again. This wasn't going to be easy, but nothing worth fighting for ever is.

They came back to the Climate Wall. They had a few questions to ask Mr. Freeman. There was no physical evidence against him, but Nick personally saw him talk with Andy Koslov. That made him a suspect.

After getting out of the cruiser they went for the same entrance as last time. Nick stepped up to an intercom and pressed a button that alerted whoever was on the other side of their presence. It emitted a buzz sound and soon enough the voice of a tired security guard responded.

"Please state your identity and your business here."

"Hello, I'm officer Nick Wilde. Me and my partner officer Judy Hopps are here to ask a Mr. Freeman some questions." Nick stated and straitened his jacket. The cold was getting to him.

There was a moment of silence before a response came. "Our systems show that he has not checked in today. In fact he is on leave. If you have any further questions you may consult the manager."

Nick sighed a bit irritated. He thought Freeman might go on the run. "Yeah, we'll have a word with your manager than."

"Alright officers, just hold on for a bit and I'll get him for ya."

Nick crossed his arms, more for warmth than out of impatience of frustration. "He must have heared about Andy."

Judy nodded. "His probably hiding out in a safe-house some where."

"Maybe his manager can enlighten us on where he might have gone." Nick said and exhaled to see his breath. "We should get some _steaming_ hot coffee after this."

"This is _Tundratown_ , Nick. The proper drink would be some hot chocolate." She pointed out.

Nick grinned. "You know, there's still a way we could get warm right now."

Judy rolled her eyes. "Where on the job, Nick. Besides we both have something warm on this time."

"Nothing beats your warmth, Carrots." Nick mused.

She wanted to say something back, but only then realized the genuine complement. "Shush!" Was all she finally muttered.

Nick chuckled and then turned his attention to the door in front of them opening up. The same musk-ox as last time stepped out and greeted the two of them.

"So I hear your looking for Mr. Freeman. Well his taken a few days off." The musk-ox informed them.

"Any idea were he might have gone?" Judy asked him.

"Nope. Where my workers go on there days off isn't of my concern." He noted.

"Do you have anything that could help us find him?" Nick questioned.

"Only personal details such as his phone number and house address, but I assume you already have access to those." He shrugged and then pointed at them.

Judy sighed in frustration. "We, thank you for you time sir."

"Happy to help." The musk-ox turned around and headed back inside, closing the door behind him.

"There's no way he went back to his place, but it doesn't hurt to check it out." Nick suggested.

"If his not there we can't get inside without a warrant." Judy noted.

"Damn it. We're hitting too many dead ends. I think it's time we question Andy's former crew _ourselves_." Nick said as he placed his paws in his pocket and made for the cruiser.

"I agree, but first we need to pay a visit to Chris. See how his holding up." Judy said as she came up to the drivers side.

"I thought I was driving." Nick said confused.

"You had your turn." She protested.

"No loving warmth, no more driving, next it'll be no smug face in the hospital." Nick complained and got into the passengers seat.

Judy got in as well and started the engine. "And if your a good fox. I might just have to treat you to something special later."

Nick raised both eyebrows and grinned at Judy. "I like the sound of _that_ , But lets crash at my place tonight. Bigger bed and _thicker walls_."

Judy looked somewhat surprised at what the fox was hinting at, but looked him over and seemed satisfied with what she saw. After Nick had revealed his past to her she felt even closer to him. If she could still except him now that she knew of his past work with a killer, than she didn't see any reason why not to take this relationship further.

* * *

 **14:21, Hospital**

"You know, I've always hated how hospitals smell." Nick mentioned. "I wonder how the animals with a more sensitive sense of smell finds it."

"Stop complaining, slick. Where here for our colleague remember." She reminded him.

They were walking through the hallway on their way to Chris's room. They were eager to see how he was doing and hoped he'd be ready for duty so enough. Nick opened the door to his room and stood aside to allow Judy in first. She smiled at him and entered the room. There on the bed laid a seemingly bored jackal staring at the wall.

He turned his attention to the fox and bunny. A smile grew across his face. "Nick! Judy! You came."

"Course we did. Your part of the team." Nick said and closed the door behind him after entering.

"How are you feeling?" Judy asked him and stood by his bed side.

"Not too bad. I am on some pain meds though. Doctor said I'll still be here awhile." Chris informed them. "Hows the case going?"

"We're going after Andy's employer now. A Mr. Yuri Petrov." Judy told him.

"However, we haven't been getting any solid evidence on him and the mammals we arrested just aren't talking." Nick added and leaned against the wall.

"And now we believe his on to us. So he'll be covering his tracks more thoroughly." Judy said and looked from Chris to Nick and back to Chris again.

"Look, if you guys wanna catch him then your going to have to take an indirect approach. Don't go after him, go after his operations." Chris suggested.

Judy looked intrigued. "What do you mean exactly?"

"If you stop his business from running smoothly you'll force him to make more aggressive decisions and that's were he'll slip up." Chris explained.

"That's a really good idea." Nick agreed and stood up straight.

"Just happy I can still help the team." He smiled warmly.

"We should get on that than. It's nice to see your doing OK." Said Judy. "I hope it doesn't get to lonely for you."

"Oh that's no problem. Candice keeps me company. She just needed to quickly get back home to take care of some stuff." He informed them.

"Ah, so she's looking after you, huh? Nice." Nick winked.

"Nick!" Judy shouted. "Not the time or place."

"I'm just saying. I mean I'd be more than happy to have a pretty girl looking after me were _I_ in his position." He looked at Judy straight in the eyes.

She felt a light blush as she noticed the hidden complement. "Well, w-we should be on our way."

"Thanks for stopping by."

"Get better soon." Nick said as he and Judy left the room.

"What was that about." Chris wondered.

* * *

 **19:53, Nick's apartment.**

As agreed the two went to Nick's apartment. It was just a bit bigger than Judy's and had an addition of a Television. It wasn't the cleanest sight to see since the last time Nick was there was just before the stakeout. So there was no time to prepare it for company. Thankfully, Judy didn't mind and even offered to help him clean up. Nick of course told her it was 'fine', however she insisted.

There was little to no advancement on the case throughout the rest of the day. It was obvious that a lot of work needed to be done, but tonight they weren't going to focus on that.

Nick packed away the last of the dishes and turned to face Judy. "That's the last of it."

"What do you wanna do now?" She asked him knowing full well what was on his mind.

"If I remember correctly, I was promised a 'treat' if I behaved myself." Nick said putting on his trademark smile and half lidded eyes.

"Really? I don't recall." She said playfully and sat down on his bed.

"Don't be a forgetful bunny now." He came up right in front of her. "You can play all you want, Carrots. I'm still gonna indulge in the sweet taste of bunny tonight.

Judy licked her upper lip. "I don't know if I'm in the mood for fox though."

Nick placed his paw behind her head. "Trust me fluff, tonight you will be."

Nick came in for the kiss, but before he could connect his lips with hers he felt a finger stopping him. He opened his eyes surprised, but remained in that position.

"Nick, I need to know where you want to take this." She said and looked at him with a mixture of fear and worry.

"Nothing beyond what you want." He replied with a smooth reassuring voice.

Judy removed her finger from his lips and only a second later indulged in the sweet feeling of kissing her fox. Nick placed his free paw on her hip and continued to passionately kiss her. They soon broke it for a moment to catch their breaths. Judy then scooted back and further onto the bed. Nick climbed on and was now on his paws and knees right above Judy.

They kissed again with even more intensity as Judy wrapped her arms around his neck. Soon they broke again and Nick proceeded to remove his T-shirt. Judy grinned and ran her paws up and down his chest.

"Not bad, slick." She complemented.

"I knew you liked it." He grinned back.

They continued their make out session and Judy soon removed her T-shirt leaving only a black bra cover her chest. Nick then moved to her neck and kissed her there. She let out a few soft moans in enjoyment and allowed her paws to move all over Nick's upper body.

After kissing and nibbling on her neck he moved his paw to her back and held the clip of her bra. Before doing anything else he looked at her for approval. She nodded, but also whispered. "No further then that."

Nick knew she wasn't ready to go all the way, but given her biology she probably wouldn't resist to much if he decided to take it further. However, Nick had no intention of taking advantage of her. He smiled at her and rubbed her cheek with his other paw. "Alright Carrots."

He removed her bra and tossed it to the side. After that he brought his head down to explore this new frontier and Judy simply loved it. They simply kept it to that and more passionate kisses till both felt like they had their fill. They then got under the covers half naked and snuggled into each other. Both enjoying the wonderful feeling of being in each others embrace.

* * *

 **Note:** Didn't think it would end in fluff, or did you?

Again I just want to say thank very much for all the favs, follows and reviews. I know this archive has hundreds of stories way better than mine, but the fact that you still choose to give it a try and kept with it means a _lot_ me.

Don't forget to leave a review of what you thought of the this chapter and fav/follow if you haven't yet. Have a Fantastic day/night.


	12. Chapter 12

**Note:** Hello everyone

I'm deeply sorry for taking THIS long to update the story and that this is also quiet a sort chapter. I just haven't much time with constant tests and assignments coming my way. However, I did want to put out at least something to let you know I'm still committed to the story. I hope you enjoy this short little chapter.

* * *

Several days have past since Nick and Judy had their first special night together. They then presumed their hunt for the crime boss Yuri Petrov. Taking Chris's advice into consideration they already managed to bust a small time drug dealer who got his supply from Yuri. Along with that they arrested two of his mammals after they got into a street fight.

Both members where new recruits and where sloppy. This meant they didn't know much. Of course, this wasn't near enough to harm Yuri's business and get him to make rash decisions. They needed to do more.

However, on this Wednesday morning, they might just get the break they needed.

* * *

 **11:39, ZPD Headquarters**

Nick dipped the edge of a cookie into his coffee to soften it up a bit. He then proceeded to take a bite from it as he read what felt like the 100th file on the Petrov crime family. Him and Judy had learned a lot about them in the resent days, the biggest thing being that they really new how to hide their tracks. The second thing was that they were cold blooded killers.

Nick swallowed and leaned back into his chair. He rubbed his tired eyes with his right paw. "I could really use a couple days off." He muttered.

"And give the bad guys a bigger lead over us? Not likely, Wilde." Judy said from her cubical opposite his.

"These guys have been doing this for years. So they already got a more than comfortable lead over us." Nick said removing is paw from his eyes and eating the remainder of his cookie.

Judy turned her whole body towards him. "We've still made _some_ progress."

"With mammals like these you got to make a _lot_ of progress just to get _close_ to them." He informed her.

Before they cold continue chief Bogo came to them. "Officers Hopps and Wilde."

"Hey there chief." Nick greeted lazily.

"I've got some news that you two might find helpful." The chief announced.

"Really? Cause we could use all the help we can get." Judy said sitting upright.

"You know the wombat that worked for Andy?" He asked rhetorically.

"Yeah, him and his buddy's wouldn't tell us anything." Nick said somewhat frustrated.

"His agreed to talk, provided we give him a shorter sentence and protection." Chief Bogo informed them.

"What made him change his mind?" Judy asked curiously and raised an eyebrow.

"Apparently he thinks that Yuri's mammals will soon attempt to exterminate him and the others. Regardless of whether they talk or not." Bogo explained.

Nick nodded. "Sounds about right. So when does he wanna talk?"

"His waiting for you now." The chief said and walked away.

Nick and Judy looked at each other in surprise and stood up to follow chief Bogo to the interrogation room. The two of them entered the room while chief Bogo took the back room to observe them through the one way window. In front of them sat the wombat looking down at the table that his arms were chained too.

Judy sat down on the chair opposite him and Nick leaned against the wall after closing the door behind him. The wombats nose twitched and he folded his paws together as he thought of what to say.

"Before I tell you what I know. Will you meet my request?" He asked , still looking at the table.

"Depends on how good the information is that you give us." Nick said crossing his arms.

"Oh it's good. That I can grantee." The wombat scratched his left cheek. "I haven't worked with Yuri personally. My services were exclusive to Andy, but I have uh... made unauthorized excess into Yuri's computers."

This intrigued Judy. "Okay, you have our full attention. Please, proceed."

The wombat still didn't look up at them. "Keep in mind that I have no physical proof and that I destroyed my equipment just before you busted us."

He sighed. "Yuri's biggest income comes from the harbor. He has connections from beyond Zootopia. They import everything from drugs to firearms. The harbor is his life line, without it he'll lose more than half his income."

Nick was very interested with this and stepped closer. "The harbor is a big place. Could take us days, even weeks to find his shipments."

"I can find them for you. I can hack into his computers again and tell you the precise locations. And if you feel I'll try something you can have your best mammal from tech support watching my every move." He finally looked up at the two officers.

"So do we have a deal?" He asked looking at them with hopeful eyes.

Judy turned to Nick and he nodded at her. It was obvious that this wombat was fearing for his life and given what he learned about Yuri, it didn't come as a surprise. Judy turned back to the wombat.

"We'll see what we can do about do about your sentence. In the mean time, you'll be kept in a cell right here at HQ. There's a bigger police presence, less inmates and it'll be easier to just go get you there when we need you." Judy informed him.

The wombat breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you officers."

Nick walked to the door. "Someone will come to escort you to your new cell shortly. We'll make arrangements with tech support and get you to work when we're ready."

The wombat nodded and watched as the two officers exited the room. He leaned back into his chair and allowed his muscles to relax. "YA vse yeshche mogu perezhit' eto (I can still survive this)." He muttered.

Nick and Judy walked over to tech support where they would meet with Chris. He had been released from the hospital and insisted on getting back to work immediately afterwards. Chief Bogo was a bit hesitant, but decided it was fine since Chris didn't do any field work.

They reached a small office that had 'Head of IT department' written on it. Nick knocked on the door with his right paw. "Hey Chris, we got a job for you!"

"Is it really necessary to shout?" Judy asked shifting her weight to the left and crossing her arms.

"No, but that's why I did it." Nick simply answered.

The door opened up revealing the jackal. He looked like his old self again. Although, he did still have to move slowly and had to avoid lifting anything heavy as he still had some healing to do.

"Nick! Judy! Great to see you guys." He said with a wide smile. "Please, come in and have a seat."

"Your in quiet the good mood." Judy noted as she went to go sit down on one of the chairs.

Chris slowly maneuvered himself into his desk chair and grunted a couple of times while doing so. "Nothing wrong with that."

"Does it have to do with a particular arctic fox?" Nick questioned and leaned forward.

Chris cleared his throat nervously. "So you were saying you had a job for me?"

Nick and Judy knowingly glanced at each other before Nick proceeded. "One of Andy's former mammals have agreed to help us by hacking into some of Yuri's computers. He claims to have done this before. We need you to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't try anything."

Chris's smile faded a bit. He wasn't sure how he felt about this and thought for a moment. "All I have to do is supervise him?"

"And report on anything he found." Judy added. "If you want we could stay with you if that'll help."

Chris sighed and looked down at his desk. He folded his paws together and rested his arms on the desk. "You sure you can stay?"

"We're honestly not making any real progress. So I don't see why not and if we do have to leave we'll make sure two other officers take our place for that time." Nick assured him.

Chris nodded slowly. "Alright, I'll do it."

"I'm glad your agreeing to this." Judy told him.

"And sorry we kinda ruined your happy-go-lucky mood." Nick added.

Chris smirked. "Not an issue. I know how to get that mood back."

Nick gave a toothy grin. "She's only one call away buddy. So don't let us get in your way."

Nick got off the chair and Judy followed him to the door. As Nick opened it up he turned his head to Chris. "We'll inform you when this has to be done."

"I'll be right here waiting." Chris said trying not to blush from Nick's earlier comment.

The two mammals left the room and allowed Chris to take out his phone from his pocket.

* * *

 **Note:** Working with one of the bad guys now.

As always let me know what you thought about the chapter in the reviews and fav/follow if you haven't yet. I will try to get the next chapter out in a shorter time span, but I can't promise anything. Have a great day/night.


	13. Chapter 13

Nick and Judy casually walked on the side walk of the road on their way to a nearby cafe. It was lunch time and they still needed to wait for things to be finalized with the wombat. Nick looked down at the gray bunny to his right.

"Thought you'd be happier with the promise of progress, Carrots." He noted.

Judy, who was deep in thought, shook her head and focused on her partner. "Huh, sorry. It's just that... I've been having something else on on my mind lately." She admitted.

Nick's expression became slightly worried. "Is there some kind of problem?"

Judy played around with her fingers as she gave herself time to think about how to tell him what's on her mind. "My... uh parents called me yesterday. As usual they just asked how things were going." She let out a forced laugh.

This made Nick raise his eyebrows, yet he allowed her to finish. She looked down at the road and continued. "I said everything was good, just working on a really hard case. Problem is they asked some questions I couldn't answer truthfully, again."

"Again?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, first time was that night you spent at my place." She informed him and to a quick glaze at him before looking back down. "Anyway, I don't want to continue these lies involving you."

"So what exactly are you saying, Carrots." Nick's worried expression grew bigger.

Judy let out a heavy sigh. "I think it's time I tell my parents that we're... dating."

Nick rolled his eyes as sweet relief filled his body. He was worried there for a moment, although now that he thought about it there really was no need to be. "That's all? You could have just gone straight to the point, Fluff."

"It's not that simple, Nick. My parents are old school. Sure there more excepting to foxes now than when I was a kid, but me dating a fox is on a whole new level." She justified her worries.

"In that case we probably shouldn't bring up the fact that we've been spending night's at each others places." Nick joked and earned himself a fist in the shoulder from a furious looking bunny.

"I'm serious, Nick!" She said louder than she would have liked.

Nick put on his famous smile and half-lidded eyes. "Relax, it's not like they can stop us from seeing each other. We're not teenagers."

"They're still my parents." She reasoned. "Wouldn't you like _your_ parents to except _me_?"

Nick thought for a moment as they finally approached their destination. Not once has he considered telling his mother. In fact he hasn't talked to her for over a year now. She loves him with all her heart, but he was just never the same after that night so many years ago. The last night he saw his father and found an unlikely friend that stuck by him through all these years.

By the time he had finished this trail of thought he was already sitting down at a table and noticed Judy staring at him with a curious look on her face. "Everything alright, Nick?"

"Sorry, just got lost in my thoughts for a second." He informed her.

Judy starred at him for a few seconds longer before deciding to continue with the current topic. Knowing Nick he would tell her what was on his mind now. She'd have to catch him at a time when he'd be more open.

* * *

 **13: 15, Somewhere on the streets near an ally way.**

A lone fennec fox dragged a small black bag along with him, although not that small for someone his size. He stopped in front of a trash can for mammals his size and tossed the bag in with all his strength. A loud thud followed by the sound of braking glass was heard. The fennec dusted off his paws with a satisfied look.

"That's one less smell I have to deal with." He told himself in a very thick voice one would not expect from someone as little as him.

A shadow came over him and stayed there. This annoyed him and he turned around to face whoever was doing this with a frustrated look. "You lookin' for trouble?"

The ram in front of him smiled. "No little guy. I'm simply here to talk." He said calmly.

"Little guy!?" Finnick barked. "I'll shave off your wool and feed it to ya if you call me _little_ again!"

The ram was taken aback by his sudden outburst, but quickly recomposed himself again. "Fine. I'm here to have a word with you Finnick. It shouldn't take up too much of your time."

Finnick raised his eyebrow. "How do you know my name?"

The ram looked around him and then back at Finnick. "Let's talk somewhere more private. Considering _Mr. Big_ isn't a name you can talk about too loudly without gaining unwanted attention."

Finnick's heart started beating a little faster, though he didn't show it. He heard about Mr. Big having mammals working for him outside Tundratown. Based on this guys confident smirk he was no doubt one of them.

"You got five minutes sheep." He said lowly.

"I'm a ram." He corrected.

"I'll ram you with my van if you don't get on with it." Finnick warned. He reasoned that showing fear would only work against him.

The ram was starting to get annoyed with Finnick's attitude, but brushed it aside. They walked into a nearby ally way and made sure the coast was clear. The ram removed an envelop from his left pocket and held it in his hoof as he spoke. "This is from said arctic shrew. He wanted me to give this to you. I wasn't told what was inside it."

The ram gave it to Finnick who inspected it for a few seconds. "What am I suppose to do with it?"

"Look at what's inside." He pointed a finger at the envelop. "And listen carefully. You have 48 hours starting now. No police and don't try skipping town. We will find you." The ram finished with a smirk.

Finnick had his mouth open slightly and held the envelop with both paws as he stared at it. Nothing good could come from this. In actual fact, the question was how bad it would be and what he'd need to do. He gritted his teeth and looked at the ram. "Anything else?"

"That's it." The ram turned and walked away.

Finnick sighed. What on Earth was inside this envelop. He grasped it tight and hurried to his van. There was no time to lose. He came up the old vehicle and entered through the back, taking a quick glance at the mammals outside before closing the door. He looked at his index finger with his claw sticking out. Slowly and carefully he opened the envelop. Inside were a few pictures and a letter, no doubt telling him why his in this mess and how he needs to get out of it.

Finnick turned it over and let the contents fall out. He tossed the envelop aside and picked up one of the pictures. His eyes grew wide and his breathing increased. In front of him was a picture of what would happen should he not complete his task. Getting iced seemed like an easy way to go compared to this.

"This ain't from Big." He muttered.

Tossing that aside as well he reluctantly picked up the letter and started reading it.

 _Finnick_

You have 48 hours upon receiving this to meet our demands. If not you will face the consequences (Ref: to picture 1). Your use of our services have gone unpaid for several moths now which means your are in dept (Ref: picture 2). We understand that you are not in a very profitable position at the moment. Not to worry, we have come up with a solution. You must convince your former partner officer Nick Wilde of a drug storage at a warehouse (Ref: picture 3). How you do this does not concern us. Simply make sure that it is only you two, with the exception of officer Judy Hopps.

Failure to do this on time will result in your painful death.

From: Yuri Petrov

The letter slipped out of his paw and he fell on his knees. As his lips quivered he tried to process what he had just read. There was a moment of silence as he looked down with eyes and mouth wide open. He felt his paws shaking and if he could he'd be sweating now. The 3rd picture came into view. He saw the warehouse where he would be sending his friend to. He didn't have to think about it as it was clear. Either he was going to die or Nick and the bunny would.

* * *

 **Note:** Dang it Finnick. What did you get yourself into.

Hope you enjoyed latest chapter (Even if it did take long as usual).

I've noticed that the last few chapters may have been a tad boring. So I'm trying to bring back some suspense to get things going again. Soon enough everything will start adding up. In the mean time let e know what you thought of this chapter in the reviews, fav. and/or follow the story and have a good day/night.


	14. Chapter 14

"So we're in agreement? After work we go to my place and video call them on my laptop." Judy said confirming with her partner.

"Sounds simple enough." Nick nodded and looked at her with a carefree smile.

Judy found his lack of worry frustrating, but then again she was doing enough worrying for the both of them. They stared at each other for a moment before the gray bunny gave up with sigh. She looked back up at him, this time with a grin on her face.

"I really hate that smile of yours sometimes." She commented.

"You hate it, or you hate that you love it?" Nick's smile grew wider. He knew that if it wasn't for the table between them he would have taken a fist to the shoulder by now.

Before he could continue to tease her, his cellphone vibrated in his pocket. "Excuse me for a minute, fluff."

He took it out of his pocket and looked at the caller ID. What he saw made him raise his eyebrow. Judy noticed this and wanted to ask who it was, but before she could Nick took the call and answered her question.

"Finnick? Haven't heard from you in ages." He said in a rather surprised voice.

The small smile on his quickly faded when he heard the sound of his friends voice. Something was wrong and he was unsuccessfully trying to hide it. Nick knew that this couldn't be discussed over the phone and as that crossed his mind Finnick asked to meet him where he usually parks his van.

"Sure, I'll meet you there after work." Nick hung up the phone and looked at the questioning face of Judy.

"Uhm… I'm gonna have to take a rain check on talking to your parents tonight." He said as he put down the phone.

Judy only grew more curios. "What? Why? What does Finnick want from you?"

"I'm not sure, but it sounded important."

"Can't it wait?"

"I don't think so." Nick shook his head.

Judy was not at all pleased with this sudden change of plans. "No. You can't just go back on our agreement-which we _just_ made- so you can go visit your friend that you haven't seen in who knows how long."

"Judy." Nick's voice was calm and serious, something Judy took note of instantly. "He sounded afraid and seeing him afraid is as rare as seeing a pig fly."

"Pigs can't fly and that phrase is offensive to pigs. " She pointed out.

"Exactly. That means his probably dug himself a grave with how deep he is in whatever his taken part of." Nick explained

Judy leaned back into her seat and thought about it for a moment. If Nick was certain that his friend was in danger than she couldn't hold it against him if wanted to go and help. They could always talk to her parents another time, but Finnick needed help now.

She looked at Nick and nodded her head. "Okay, you can go meet up with him. Just promise me you won't get yourself into any trouble."

"I'll do my best, Carrots." He said with a forced smile.

* * *

 **18:30, Finnick's van**

Nick stood outside the van and stared at it for a moment. He contemplated on whether or not he should go in how he usually would or with a more serious attitude. Deciding on the former he knocked on the back door and waited for a response. There was a sound of something moving around inside accompanied by some groaning. The door opened revealing the fennec fox he had come to see.

He looked at Nick for a few seconds with an expressionless face. "Get in."

Nick raised an eyebrow at this and stepped inside. "Not even a hello or how's it going?"

"Just shut up and close the door." Finnick said and dug around in a mini fridge that was just a tad bigger than him.

He removed two beer can from it and gave one to Nick before sitting down on a bean bag chair. "I can only keep the fridge runnin' for so long without draining the vans battery, so they ain't very cold."

"Times are tough. Has been for most of our lives." Nick said and opened the can of beer before taking a sip.

Finnick did the same. "Still is for me. You managed to move out from under the bridge at least." He chuckled.

"Can't be a cop and be a street hustler. By the way are you still doing that?" Nick asked. "I'm not on duty so I won't say anything if you don't."

Finnick drank some more from the can. "The less you know the better." He said in a joking manner.

Nick nodded and took a deep breath. "So why did you want me to meet you all of the sudden?"

Finnick's eyes scanned the floor, but wasn't focusing on anything. "I messed up big time. I messed up so bad that I got a price on my head if I don't deliver."

This caught Nick by surprise and his eyes widened. He put down the beer and tried to register what he had just heard. "H-how? Why? Who?" Was all he could get out.

"Unpaid debt with the wrong mammals." He said simply.

"And what do they want from you?" Nick asked still trying to comprehend what's going on.

"You remember that night we first met? The night your old man died." He started and Nick's ears fell back as he listened. "You were just a kid and you witnessed him take a bullet to the head… right in front of you."

Finnick shifted uncomfortably. "I saw what happened and despite my better judgement I decided to help you get home. I didn't know who you were I just knew you that you were a little kid all alone on the wrong side of town. Never one of us thought a partnership would soon follow."

Finnick's expression grew serious and he looked at Nick. "I ani't no defenseless kid who needs to be watched over." He took a moment. "But just like you I'll be dead without help. I need your help, Nick."

Nick stayed silent for a minute and Finnck finished his drink as he patiently waited for a response. Memories from that Night was flooding back to him, but he quickly shook his head before he was dragged to far back into the past. He shut his eyes and took slow controlled breaths to calm himself.

"Who are you in trouble with." He asked as calmly as he could.

"Yuri Petrov. He wants you died Nick. You and that fuzzy bunny." Finnick informed him.

Nick froze for a moment as he took in what Finnick had just said. He exhaled and pinched the bridge between his eyes. In all honesty it was more stressful than shocking to him since this wasn't the first time someone tried to kill him for pocking his snout into other mammals businesses.

"What does he want you to do? Shoot us?" Nick asked jokingly.

Finnick raised an eyebrow at how Nick was taking the message. "You ain't scared?"

"Buddy I've nearly been iced by Big and held at gun point by a mammal that went psycho. So not as much as you'd think." He took a sip from his drink.

Finnick looked indifferent and nodded in understanding. "Well now you're probably wondering why I'm acting like a pussy."

"Your words not mine." Nick pointed out.

"Yuri doesn't simply want to kill me. He wants to torture me." Finnick pointed at the some papers and pictures next to Nick.

Nick looked at the pile and searched through them till he came across a gruesome picture of a mammal that had his skin entirely removed from his flesh. "Oh that is disgusting." He tried to hold back his most recent meal.

"And they do that to ya while you're still breathing." Finnick told him.

After putting the picture back Nick finished his drink and took a moment to let it sink in. "How long do you have?

"Less than 43 hours." He said simply. "I can't run from 'em, Nick. At some point they'll find me and skin me _alive_!" He said in anger and drank what remained of his beer.

"Sounds like my first job with Judy. Limited time and high stakes." He chuckled, which Finnick didn't find very amusing. "I should be able to provide protective custody, but that will require you to become an informant. You've dealt with them before and know a little about how they operate. If you give us info we can in return provide protection."

"No! No way that's happening! I'm not gonna work with the ZPD. This is why I came to you personally, Nick!" Finnick shouted. "They'll give me 'protective custody' alright. In a _prison cell_! I got a record their bound to get a hold of."

Nick sighed. His friend was right. The ZPD would ask questions and with Finnick's history he'd most likely do hard time. A reduced sentence for his cooperation at best. "Fine, I'll think of something. I am still gonna inform Judy. She's my partner and just as in danger as we are."

Finnick wasn't too happy with that idea, but decided that it was reasonable. "Any other terms and conditions?" He asked a bit annoyed.

"Yeah, you're staying at my place tonight. If something go's wrong I don't want to be long distance away." Nick told him.

"What if their watching us? Wont they know I'm working with you and what are you going to defend us with? A fox sized taser?" He asked leaning to his right. "My bat does more damage."

"If their watching us chances are their already suspicious. Also, my taser is very effective even against slightly larger mammals." Nick pointed out.

Finnick simply rolled his eyes and got up. "Whatever, you're the cop. I"ll drive us there."

"You _just_ had alcohol." Nick reminded him.

"Then get comfortable. Cause I ain't leaving my home and if I can't drive my home isn't going anywhere." Finnick folded his arms and gave Nick a displeasing look.

"Alright." Nick shrugged.

* * *

Not far from where Finnick's van was a black SUV stood park on the side of the road. In the driver's seat sate the ram that met with Finnick earlier that day and to his left was a snow leopard. She held part of a headphone to her ear and was working with a device in on her lap with her other paw.

"Ya nichegonemogu setim uslyshat'." She said irritated.

"You know I can't speak Russian." The ram complained.

"Yet you work for Yuri." She said sarcastically in a monotone voice. "I said I can't hear a thing with this. It's nothing but static. Are you sure you activated it correctly?"

"Yes I'm sure. We're probably just getting interference from somewhere." He assumed. "Best we can do is keep an eye out and see what happens."

"You don't seem very _enthusiastic_ about that." She noted.

He sighed. "That's because this is a waste of time. We got guns. We should just go over there and take them out now." He argued.

"And you wonder why you don't move up in the chain of command. Even with silencers chances of getting detected are still too high at this time of day. Plus the rabbit isn't with them." She explained much to his annoyance.

"Hey! It's not like I'm at the bottom of the command chain." He retorted and looked out of the doors window.

"Did I offend you? I did not know this was your soft spot." She asked with the slightest grin.

"No!" He faced her. "I don't have a soft spot, figuratively speaking. I'm as hard as my head."

Her grin grew just a little more. "So you're hard headed?"

He grunted in annoyance. "Let's just focus on the job, please."

"Kind too." She added and further annoyed him.

A few hours later it became clear to them that Nick wasn't coming out of there and had probably decided to stay the night. The ram slowly started to drift to sleep as he laid back in his seat. A sudden shove to his shoulder startled him.

"Huh!? I did nothing his lying!" He blurted out and soon realized where he was and what he was doing.

His partner looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "You OK?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Could maybe use some coffee." He said as he rubbed his tired eyes.

"Just a little longer. We received the go ahead to approach and capture, execute if necessary. Preferably Yuri want's them alive." She informed him.

"Finally some action." He said with delight followed by a yawn.

"Keep the engine on. I'm going in, wait for my signal." Said the snow leopard.

"Alright, and watch out for the little guy Natasha. I hear his pretty good with a baseball bat." Stated the ram.

"I'll keep that in mind, Hendrick." She said sarcastically.

Natasha moved quietly over to Finnick's van and kept an eye out for any possible witnesses. Thankfully, there were hardly any mammals around and those that did walk the streets new better than to interfere or alert the authorities while still in the area. She came up behind the van and looked around again before reaching into her black leather jacket. When she was satisfied that no one was watching her she looked through the window and saw the two sleep foxes. One of whom, unsurprisingly, was sleeping with a baseball bat in his arms.

She thought it was sort of cute, but disregarded that thought as she had a job to do. After removing a lock pick from her jacket she proceeded to unlock the door with it. She did it with ease and slowly opened the door. As she was bigger than them her plan was to simply pick them up and throw them into the back then knock them out to prevent resistance. She turned to face the SUV that Hendrick was in and motioned for him to come over, the street lights helped him to see her in the night.

Just as she turned back she saw an object approach her face with speed and smacked her across the face. "Agh! What the!?" She held her paw against the left side of her face where she was struck.

"I'll hit you again if ya don't get lost now!" Finnick shouted, holding the bat with both paws ready for another swing.

"YA ub'yu tebya za eto (I'll kill you for that)!" She yelled back.

When Finnick heard that his eyes widened and he shut the door in her face. "Nick! We need to get outta here!"

The two jumped into the front seats and Finnick quickly started the engine. Natasha kicked the door open and tried to get inside the small space, but before she could move further in Finnick hit the gas and the van jerked forward, almost hitting the wall at the end of the ally way. She fell onto the pavement. Finnick set the van into reverse and was about to run over the snow leopard. Natasha saw the van approaching her and quickly jumped out of the way. When the van was out of the ally Finnick switched the gear back into first and pulled away as fast as the van could accelerate, a sound similar to that of a gun firing coming out of the exhaust.

Hendrick came up to Natasha in the car. "Get in!"

She got into the passenger seat and the two raced after Nick and Finnick. The SUV was a much more powerful vehicle and quickly caught up to the van. Hendrick pulled out a gun and handed it to her. "I'm guessing capturing them is no longer an option." "We'll see. Either way we can't let them get away."

She said as she looked over at the pistol in Hendrick's paw. "Why are you giving me that sissy weapon?"

Hendrick looked confused, but before he could say something his confusion turned into shock as Natasha pulled out a machine gun from under her seat. "This is what you shoot with. That thing in your paw is just a toy for street gangs." She stated and rolled down her window to take aim.

She didn't have the slightest care if she missed and damaged property and/or shot someone. "Keep the car steady."

Inside the van Nick was frantically busy with his phone trying to call Judy. "Pick up rabbit!"

He finally received an answer from her as she calmly said "Hello."

"Judy! We need help, we're being chased and…" Before he could continue a burst of fire came from behind them and shot the side mirror on Nick's side to pieces. "Ahhh!"

In his sudden surprise Nick dropped the phone to the floor and he barely heard the bunny's frantic voice. Nick! Nick! Was that gun fire!? Nick!?"

* * *

 **Note:** Cars, guns and a baseball bat. What more do you want?

Hello everyone! Sorry for the very late upload. Got hit by exams and then my wifi connection died and it took the server providers forever to fix it.

Regardless, I'll try to have the next chapter out within the week so you wont have to wait too long to see what happens. I'm hoping this brought back some action. Please, let me know what you think of the chapter in the reviews and fav and/or follow if you haven't yet.

Have a great day/night!


	15. Chapter 15

**Note:** Hello everyone!

Yes I know., according to what I said this should have been out last week.

Before I get started I just want to make a couple of corrections. First I have been informed tht chief Bogo wouldn't call Nick and Judy by their first names, so I wont be making that mistake again. Thanks for letting me know **gonekrazy300**

Secondly I made a mistake with the semi-automatic machine gun. So I went back and fixed it just making it a machine gun. Thanks for that **guest**.

Your help is much appreciated.

* * *

Judy yelled into the phone as she started to freakout. There was obviously gunfire in the background and a bunch of shouting that she couldn't quite make out. She knew just standing there hoping for a reply wasn't going to work.

"I need to call for backup and trace his phone." She said to herself and proceeded to do just that.

However, knowing that Nick was yet again in danger and could get hurt or worse just made the situation that much harder for her.

"They shot my van, bro!" Finnick complained as he tried to maneuver around through the streets.

"Who cares!? Just make sure _we_ don't get shot!" Nick said trying to find his phone.

Another burst of fire hit the back door which was still slightly open. Finnick turned hard left, causing the van to drift into the next street. He managed to keep it under control and straighten it out again. He hit the accelerator hard and the under powered van increased it's speed. This caused Nick to be thrown around in his seat and his phone moved deeper under the seat.

"No offense to your home, but it's useless compared to an SUV big enough to simply run us over!" Nick shouted as he re-positioned himself in his seat.

"You can get out right now if you want!" Finnick retorted.

A much longer burst of fire came and hit the backdoor, tearing right through it. The bullets smashed into the radio and the top part of the gear lever. This left the radio broken and made the gear lever hard to hold.

"Damn it!" Finnick cursed in frustration.

"I don't think she can take much more." Nick noted as Finnick red lined the revs.

"She'll do it! We're died otherwise!" Finnick said firmly, but his hope was fading.

A hard turn to the right nearly flipped the van. However, the SUV maintained it's pursuit without much effort. In fact the only reason the van was still ahead was because that's where Natasha wanted them. Mammals who saw what was going on couldn't believe their eyes. Some called the ZPD while others ran at the sound of gun shots. Thankfully no one has been hurt yet, but the chase and shooting wasn't over either.

Nick was breathing heavily. His ears then perked up and he could hear the distant sound of police sirens. A faint smile appeared on his face until another round of fire tore through the top of Finnick's seat. If he wasn't so small he would have had multiple wounds in his head by now. Finnick's hears fell backwards, aching from the sound of all the shots fired.

"Shit!" Was all he got out.

* * *

Police cruisers and SUV's were closing up on the them with a helicopter flying overhead. Officers Fangmeyer and Delgato was the closest to them and were traveling in a police cruiser. They met up with the two vehicles in the next turn and followed in pursuit.

"This is officer Fangmeyer. We are in pursuit of the suspect's. The vehicle is a black SUV. One of them is armed and is firing on the van." He reported while Delgato kept the car out of Natasha's line of sight.

Chief Bogo's voice came on the through. "You are clear to engage and use lethal force."

The two officers glanced at each other for a moment. They knew such force was only used when absolutely necessary and with civilian lives at stake they didn't second guess their chief's command.

"Copy that, chief." Officer Fangmeyer confirmed.

He then took out his pistol and opened the window. Shooting at the rear of the car wouldn't be very effective so he aimed for the tires instead. "I'm gonna take out the tires. Be ready to swing out of the way if it spins."

The black SUV started to speed up and overtook Finnick's van. Hendrick saw what the officer was trying to do. He knew they couldn't escape without completing their mission first, so once he was in front of the van he hit the breaks. Finnick responded as quickly as he could, but the van just couldn't come to a stop fast enough and crashed into the back of the SUV.

When the cruiser drove past, Natasha shot at them to make sure they couldn't turn around. The rounds shattered the car's rear windshield and left multiple bullet holes on it's rear. The black SUV revved heavily as it quickly turned around, leaving smoke in the air and skid marks on the road as it's wheels screeched.

They stopped to see if the two foxes were taken care of, but before they could get a good look two police SUV's approached them and a ZPD helicopter flew overhead. Hendrick drove off and took the closest turn only to face another cruiser head on. However, he had confidence in his vehicle and wasn't afraid to play a game of chicken with it. The Jaguar officer on the passenger side held out his paw with a pistol in it and started shooting at the SUV.

This took Hendrick by surprise and he swerved the car out of the way. Natasha was still busy reloading and couldn't respond. The two cars drove past each other, with the black SUV only just regaining control.

Meanwhile, Nick and Finnick laid back in their seats, with the air bags having gone off. Nick had was bleeding from his snout and coughed as he slowly regained consciousness. He grimaced in pain when he tried to get up too quickly. Turning his head to his side he saw Finnicked knocked out, bleeding from both his snout and mouth. Officer Fangmeyer came to the door and tried to open it, but it was jammed. He ran to the back and saw that the back door wes open. Quickly he moved inside and retrieved both of them.

"We need to get them to the hospital." Fangmeyer stated.

"We have paramedics already coming our way." Officer Delgato informed him.

* * *

About ten minutes later Judy finally arrived at the crash site. A fellow officer had given her a ride. She jumped out of the cruiser and bolted for the ambulance still in her normal clothes. Nick sat on the edge wrapped in a blanket and Finnick sat on the a bed behind him. A beaver was checking his wounds for any serious damage. She ran up to him and before he could react she took him in her embrace, almost knocking him over.

"Easy, Carrots." He coughed. "I got hit in the chest with an airbag and it still hurts a little."

"I'm sorry." She said and only tightened her embrace. A few tears dropped down her face as she savored every moment of holding him so tight.

Nick smirked and hugged her back. "It's a good thing you're so soft. I actually think it's just what the doctor ordered."

"Not true, but as long as she doesn't hurt you it's fine." The beaver stated. "Thankfully the impact wasn't so hard that it did too much harm. However, him not wearing a seat belt didn't help."

"Credit to Finnick for his quick reactions." Nick praised his friend.

Finnick side glanced at him and just sighed. Sure he was happy they survived and didn't sustained serious injuries, the same however couldn't be said for his beloved van. The hood and front bumper was cracked and his certain that the clutch was burned out by this point.

Judy finally let go of Nick and stared into his eyes. "Why do you keep getting yourself into these situations?"

"Maybe I just like the embrace I get afterwards." Nick joked, but Judy didn't think it was funny.

Tears were still dripping down her face. "Don't joke, Nick. You scared me _again._ I-I don't want to lose you." The last part was just above a whisper, but Nick heard it clearly.

"You wont lose me, Judy." Nick reassured her. "The job just gets a little rough sometimes."

Judy buried her head in his chest. "I know. I just rather be with you during those times. Instead of just feeling so helpless."

Another SUV pulled up next to the ambulance. The door opened and chief Bogo stepped out, heading straight for Nick and Judy. He stopped in front of them and observed everything for a moment.

"Are you two alright?" He asked as sternly as possible, but with genuine concern.

"Just a few bruises." Nick assured him.

"Speak for yourself!" Finnick yelled and felt a sting of pain.

"Take it easy." The beaver cautioned.

Bogo looked at the van and back at the fennec fox. "I know it's late, but once the doctor clears you two I want all three of you at my office. We have to discuss this situation as it has gotten serious."

"What happened to the mammals that attacked us?" Nick asked.

"We lost them in the Rainforest district. They left the car and headed into the trees. We have a search team out there now, but with it being so dark we have to assume that they may have gotten away." He explained.

"We'll talk more in my office." He said and was about to walk off.

"Why do I have to come?" Finnick asked a bit more calm this time.

Chief Bogo turned around. "Not only are you a witness, but since this attack involved both of you. You are now considered to be in just as much danger as Officer Wilde."

"And my van?" Finnick seemed to holding back more than just physical pain.

Bogo sighed. "I'll see what I can do." With that he walked back to the SUV.

* * *

 **Note:** I'm gonna miss that van.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you thought about the chapter or if you have constructive criticism, or advice please let me know in the reviews. have a great day/night.


	16. Chapter 16

**Note:** Hello everyone!

Before we get to the chapter I just wanted to say thank you for the feedback, especially to those who I could not respond to by PM. I noticed it's mostly been aimed at my grammar so I'm trying to be more thorough when revising and doing so a few times so that I don't miss anything.

* * *

The two foxes and rabbit walked into the precinct after being dropped off by another officer. This was a very unusual feeling for Finnick. Sure his had run-ins with the law before, not that they could prove anything. However this time he was at risk of being arrested or fined, considering his shady past. He couldn't help but feel that every officer that saw him was just waiting for him to make a mistake.

"I don't like it here. Way too many mammals in blue." He noted.

"Relax, Fin. We're just here to talk to the chief." Nick reassured him.

"That's easy for you to say. Even the herbivores are looking at me like I'm prey." Finnick said looking at all the mammals around him.

"Well you can stop worrying." Judy started. "Despite whatever shady business you had in the past, right now you're a victim of an armed assault and you and Nick's safety is the priority."

"That's just a fancy way of sayin' ya won't arrest me straight away." Finnick retorted.

Silence fell on the group as they made their way to the chief's office. It was late at night and the usually energetic bunny was starting to feel weary. Nick of course saw this and smirked at his sleepy bunny. "Everything okay, Carrots? This isn't interfering with your beauty sleep is it?"

Judy groaned and wanted to hit him in the side with her elbow, but that would just further drain her limited energy.

"What got you so sleepy anyway?" Nick asked her.

"Worrying about your furry tail." She mumbled.

Nick's smirk only grew. He wanted to continue messing with her, but it wouldn't be fair to take advantage of her like that. Although, the main reason was that they had reached the door to chief Bogo's office. Nick knocked on the door three times and then waited for a reply.

"Come in." Ordered the chief.

"Let's get this over with." Finnick said to know one in particular.

The trio walked into the office, Nick and Judy shared one seat while Finnick attempted to get on another. He grabbed one of its legs and climbed up till he got to the top. Nick covered his snout and tried not to laugh at his friend. Chief Bogo waited for everyone to sit down and then picked up a sheet of paper on his desk. He put on his reading glasses and took a good look at it.

"It's Finnick, right?" Bogo asked.

"Uh… yeah." Finnick replied rather uncomfortably.

"You have a very _interesting_ file. Not unlike officer Wilde you like to keep to the _grey_ area of the law. However, that's not what we're here to discuss." He explained.

Finnick felt a heavy weight fall off his shoulders. He did a good job at keeping a straight face, but his macules visibly relaxed. Chief Bogo took off his glasses and placed the paper back down. He then asked the two foxes to give him a detailed report on what happened. Nick looked at his friend who nodded at him. They told chief Bogo everything from the death threat to the part where they crashed. Chief Bogo listened intently and even took down a few notes of the key details.

Judy on the other paw found it harder to listen to. Hearing that Yuri actually wanted to assassinate all of them made her see just how serious things have gotten. Nonetheless, she was a determined bunny and this wasn't going to stop her. If someone wanted to mess with them they better be ready for a fight.

When the explanation was finished chief Bogo leaned back into his seat and thought for a moment. "Alright, I've already made a few phone calls. Tonight you will have to share one of your homes and two officers will be assigned to guard it. Tomorrow you will be given a temporary new address that only a paw full of mammals will know about."

"So what happens to our apartments?" Judy asked curiously.

"You'll have to leave them. I know finding a new suitable apartment afterwards isn't easy, but for now your safety is a priority." The chief stated. "When you move from home to work and vice versa, you will take different routes each time. Any routine you may have such as jogging 5 miles every morning can no longer be continued. This is to avoid you being too predictable."

"And what do we do about the investigation?" Nick asked.

"You will continue with it. No one has put more hours into this than the two of you. Assigning a new team would slow us down and throw a lot of the progress you made out the window." The chief paused for a moment and thought about the next thing he would say.

"Because of how serious the situation has become, you have been authorized to use lethal force." He informed them.

"What? Are you serious chief?" Judy asked staggered.

"Yes. However, it is only to be used when _absolutely_ necessary. Tasers as small as yours will do nothing more than give large mammals a painful sting. A small bullet on the other paw can still be fatal." He said the last part slowly and waited for the message to sink in.

"What about me?" Finnick asked. "The only things that survived that attack are my cellphone, my bean bag chair and my baseball bat."

Chief Bogo looked over at the small fox. "As a civilian I can't authorize you to use weapons. However, you are legally allowed to own a taser of your own."

"And my van?" He asked with a bit of hope for some good news.

The chief leaned forward and calmly asked. "Do you have insurance?"

Finnick wanted to say something back, but couldn't think of a response that didn't start with a 'no'. His ears fell back and he sighed. Chief Bogo sat up straight. "I'll see what I can do for you. Considering how you were attacked and helped an officer."

Finnick's ears perked up again and he looked at the chief. For a moment it looked like he was going to say 'thank you', but after a quick glance at Nick and Judy next to him he immediately made himself look more indifferent. "Now we're talkin'."

"Tomorrow the two of you will be provided with these weapons and will have to train with them. Finnick, you will work with us as an informant considering you've made use of their services. Before you say anything, remember that we can still investigate you and arrest you should any of those 'service' turn out to be illegal." The chief informed them.

Finnick simply nodded in response.

"That will be all for now." Chief Bogo said and put his glasses back on to read over some files.

Now that Finnick no longer had a home he was curious to know what would happen to him. He could also tell from the look and smell of things that Nick and the bunny are closer than one might think. He didn't care that Nick might be interested in a different species; he did however care that he might be sharing an apartment with a couple.

"My apartment is the biggest, so we should probably crash there." Nick suggested.

"Then it's settled. See you tomorrow officers and you too Finnick." Chief Bogo waved them off and they left his office.

Once outside Finnick looked at the two officers. "I hope you two keep things quiet while I'm around. If you want some _alone_ time tell me to go to the roof or somethin' first."

Judy seemed confused and looked at Nick whose eyes grew wide. "What does he mean by that?"

Nick face palmed. "He knows."

"Wha… How does he know?" Judy asked frantically.

"He probably smells my sent all over you. Plus we've been at each other's side ever since you arrived at the ambulance." Nick noted.

"His not going to say anything is he?" Judy asked a bit worried.

"Nah, his more of an annoyance than someone we should actually be worried about." Nick assured her.

"I heard that you asshole!" Finnick shouted from a few feet ahead of them.

Nick smirked and decided to get even with Finnick for something he did a long time ago. "Wait up, Fin. There's something I forgot to give you."

Finnick stopped and looked back at Nick. "What?" He asked uninterested.

Nick took something out of his pocket that he found in the police car that he hoped he'd be able to use. "Welcome to the fuzz, buddy."

He placed a sticker that looked like a police badge on Finnick's T-shirt. The small fox looked surprised and took a moment to process what just happened. Judy who was observing this from a few feet away was certain this would enrage Finnick. However, he instead let loose a few chuckles before outright laughing at the situation. Nick smiled as he watched his buddy bend over in laughter.

"I should have seen that one coming." Finnick commented as he tried to regain his composure.

Nick felt pleased with himself and looked over at Judy who gave him a big warm smile. It was nice for her to see Nick getting along with his old friend after all this time.

"So are you two coming, or what?" Finnick asked light heartedly and made his way towards the exit.

Judy caught up to Nick and looked up at him. "You know, you're just as good at cheering mammals up as you are irritating them."

"After months of being partners you only realize that now?" He asked jokingly.

Judy rolled her eyes. "Dumb fox."

"How am I the dumb one?" Nick questioned.

"You just lost your spot on the bed tonight." She informed him.

"It's my bed." Nick reminded her.

"Yet you're not going to make me sleep on the couch, are you?" She asked knowing that she had already won.

"I… Well you…" Nick sighed in defeat. "Clever bunny."

Judy simply, winked at him and they walked out of the building towards a police cruiser waiting for them.

* * *

 **Note:** Well Nick you better get out the old sleeping back cause Finnick's already got dibs on the couch.

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I'm going to try and bring one more out before the end of next week. After that I'm taking a break till January.

As usual if you enjoyed this feel free to fav and/or follow. If you have any comments or criticism let me know in the reviews. Have a great day/night.

 **P.S.** If you guys got lost or a little confused during Nick's backstory. I purposefully left out some details (Maybe a bit too much), but it will be explained later on. Especially when it comes to the "Who? and the "Why?" questions.


	17. Chapter 17

The trio had arrived at Nick's apartment, exhausted from the lack of sleep. Nick scratched the back of his head and looked around his apartment.

"Mind sleeping on the couch, Fin? I didn't really have the time to get things ready for any guests."

Finnick eyed the couch for a few seconds before yawning. "Sure, but where are you gonna sleep?"

Nick seemed confused. "What do you mean?"

"You think these big ears are just for show?" He asked pointing at his ears. "I heard you lost your spot on the bed." He said with a smug face.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that." Nick said and looked at Judy apologetically.

"Oh come on you big dumb fox." She rolled her eyes and motioned for him to follow her.

Nick smiled tiredly and did as he was told.

Finnick looked at the two of them as they walked to the bedroom. "How does a hustler fox end up with a police officer bunny?" He whispered to himself.

He drank a glass of water and then hopped on the couch to get some sleep in. The next day he of all mammals will be working with the police.

The next morning came all too soon, not that any of them realized it at first. Had it not been for the knock on the door from one of the officers guarding them they might've slept at least a few hours more. The day however, didn't start with them going to work, but instead with the tedious job of packing. They had to move into a new place today and needed to get all their necessities. Finnick though, was an exception. The pawful of belongings he had left where already at HQ. They soon arrived at work and started to unpack. Their stuff would be taken to a different vehicle later.

"We're do you think they'll take us?" Judy asked Nick curiously.

Nick took the luggage out of the car and looked at her. "Somewhere small, cheap and far away."

"I was thinking more in the terms of what district." Judy said taking her bag.

Nick thought for a moment and said. "Could be anywhere other than Tundratown. Unless they wanna send us in undercover."

"No way!" Finnick yelled from behind the two of them. "You can't _pay_ me to go stay there and as far as I know, I ain't gettin' a penny for this."

"Don't want to get those big ears frozen off?" Nick teased.

Finnick growled. "I'm gonna get a taser just for you, Nick."

"I'm hurt." Nick said in a mock voice and placed his right paw on his chest.

"Oh, you will be." Finnick pointed at the larger for.

Judy giggled at the two of them. It was nice that Nick had some else to mock and make fun of, so that she won't have to take most of the punches. Though, she can't help but feel that Finnick is serious about some of his threats. They walked into the precinct from the parking entrance. As they entered her thoughts turned to their task for the day. Although she had no idea what Finnick's job was, her and Nick's tasks were straight forward; learn how to shoot an actual gun.

This was a weapon that was used as a last resort. She'd heard of other officers that shot mammals in the legs to bring them down, but not kill them. Regardless, this weapon could still be used for that very purpose. In fact there have also been reports of officers having to use it for… that.

"Carrots?"

"Huh?" She was abruptly brought out of her train of thought.

"Carrots? You OK? You seem a bit off." Nick said a bit worried.

"Uh, yeah. Just thinking about where we're going to stay." She said nervously. "I better go get ready for training." With that she quickly ran off before Nick could get another word out.

"Hmmm." Nick watched as she disappeared behind a corner.

"So where do I go?" Finnick asked not caring about what just happened.

"Go to the front desk. Clawhauser will tell you what to do next." Nick informed him. "Now don't go and get yourself arrest, alright." He said as he walked away.

Finnick shook his head and sighed. He could tell that this was going to be a long day. Nick walked over to his cubical in hopes that he'd find Judy there. Something is defiantly bothering her and with how last night turned out it shouldn't come as a surprise. He just couldn't put his figure on exactly what it was. Standing here though wasn't going to get him any closer to getting an answer. He'll most likely find her at the shooting range.

* * *

Finnick arrived at the front desk where he saw the quite larger than expected Clawhauser munching down on a couple of doughnuts. He kept a straight face and politely said 'hello'. Clawhauser immedatly reacted to Finnick's deep voice and looked all around him, but show no one.

"Down here." Finnick called out.

The moment that Clawhauser looked down his smile spread from ear to ear. "Aren't you just the cutest fella ever?"

Finnick's left eye twitched at the word 'cute'. He wanted to knock this mammal out cold, but he knew that that would be good way to get locked up. He clenched his fist and tried his very best to put on a fake smile. "The Names Finnick."

"Finnick, Finnick? Now why does that sound so familiar?" Clawhauser asked himself and looked up slightly as he thought for a moment. "Oh yeah! The chief mentioned you, said I had to tell ya where to go."

"And?" Finnick asked, starting to lose his restraint.

Clawhauser directed him to the room he needed to go to. All he told Finnick in addition was that he'd meet with someone there.

Finnick clenched his teeth. "Thank you, officer."

"No problem little guy. Don't get stepped on, OK" Clawhauser waved goodbye, oblivious to the stone cold look on Finnick's face.

* * *

Nick arrived at the shooting range where he found a Zebra standing near some of the guns. The weapons where either placed on along a table or hung from the wall. Everything from small tasers to sniper rifles for the larger mammals. The Zebra looked to be in his late 30s and was busy taking apart one of the pistols, probably to clean it.

"Hello Sargent Lenten." Nick greeted.

Lenten turned around and grinned. "Nick, glad you could make it. I could use some new targets."

"Well you best keep looking Sarg. Save yourself the embarrassment of missing the same target countless times in a row." Nick said smugly.

"I could take out a bee with a dart if I felt like it." Sargent Lenten boasted.

Nick put on his famous smile. "I'm sure you can, Sarg. So will you be taking me and Judy through training today?"

"The little bunny girl, right? Yeah, I'll be teaching you two how to shoot an actual gun and not one of those fancy tasers you younglings use these days." He said somewhat spiteful of the modern day weaponry.

At that moment Judy walked in and saw Nick and the Sargent, still busy with a gun. "Hi. Ready to get started?" She asked uncomfortably.

Lenten raised an eyebrow and looked at her for a few seconds. "Ready when you are. Now grab a pistol over on that table and we can have you two gunning down mafia boys in no time."

That only made Judy feel worse. She took a deep breath and let it out again. Nick was not blind to this and placed his paw on her left shoulder. "Carrots, you got to tell me what's going on with you."

Judy bit her lower lip, not wanting to say what was on her mind. She looked up at Nick, who stared back at her with concern. She sighed and pointed at the pistol. "This, Nick. This is what's wrong. The purpose of it and what it could actually be used for."

"You mean shooting someone. It's just so we can defend ourselves against large mammals in worst case scenarios." Nick tried to assure her.

"No! It's for causing permanent damage and for… for." She looked at Nick straight in the eyes. "For ending a mammal's life."

"How else do you want to protect yourself against a polar bear? You heard the chief, our small tasers are useless against them." Nick stated getting a bit irritated at Judy.

"How could _you_ of all mammals even consider using this? You were on the other side of that thing and nearly lost your life. You of all mammals should know what it feels like to almost die." Judy noted, her voiced raised by her increasing anger.

"And it was one of those same _things_ that ultimately saved my life. A taser would have put a bullet through my head!" Nick shouted and pointed at his forehead.

Judy couldn't believe what she was hearing. She didn't expect Nick to be at all supportive of the use of lethal force. She couldn't do this right now and in front of a Sargent no less. "I don't think I'll ever understand why you would ever want to use one of those."

"Says the bunny that was so happy to see me alive after chief Bogo _shot_ and _killed_ someone to save me." Nick pointed out.

Judy gasped in shock and disbelief. "How could you?"

She stormed off after that, not wanting to continue this argument. Nick grunted and shook his head as he processed what just happened.

"I'll just tell the chief you won't be training today due to difference of opinion." Sargent Lenten said calmly. "Give her some time to cool off, think about what _you_ said and then go talk to her."

"About what _I_ said?" Nick asked a little offended.

"Yes. Just cause you think you're right doesn't mean that you _are_ right." The Sargent put down the gun and motioned with his hoof for Nick to go now.

Nick was displeased with what the Sargent said, but left without a word.

* * *

Finnick waited penitently on a small, for larger mammals that is, chair outside an office door. He'd only been sitting here for a few minutes, but was already getting bored. He also wasn't too happy with all the officers staring at him every time they walked passed. He was no doubt a criminal in their eyes. Soon a figure appeared to his left and stopped a few feet away. Finnick looked to his left and saw a serval cat.

"Are you Mr. Finnick?" She asked politely.

"Yeah, that's me."

"Good. Please step into my office." She walked over to the door and opened it.

Finnick jumped off of the chair and walked inside, followed by the serval cat who closed the door behind them.

* * *

 **Note:** Judy's not a fan of guns I see.

Hello everyone! Hope you all had a great Christmas and New Years. I'm back after a bit of break and ready to get on with the story. I felt it was about time Nick and Judy got into an argument and thought that this was a good topic for said argument.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Feel free to fav and/or follow. If you have any comments or criticism please let me know in the reviews or PM me. Have a great day/night.


	18. Chapter 18

**Note:** Hello everyone!

 **Before we get to the story I would like to make a request. I honestly need a beta reader because I seem to constantly either miss my grammatical/spelling mistakes, or just don't realize I'm making them. I don't want the story to be any less enjoyable because of something like that. If you are interested or know someone who might be please pm me. Finding one is not easy and the filters don't help much either.**

 **Thank you LupinTheWolf for recommending that I get one.**

If you are interested just read the following. Otherwise please enjoy the chapter. :)

I need someone who is good at grammar and spelling. Also, I need you to be honest as well, if you have some criticism don't hesitate to let me know what's on your mind (Just be respectful). I don't think that's asking for too much. As may beta I will credit you at the end of each chapter and if you like you can leave your own Note that I'll also add at the end of each chapter.

* * *

Finnick looked at the desk in front of him. It was sized to be suitable for the serval cat and had two chairs on the opposite side. One for larger mammals like rhinos and another one for smaller mammals like foxes. Finnick decided to go for the bigger chair since it was further off the ground and brought him closer to eye level with the cat. The cat walked past him as he attempted to climb on top of the chair and took a seat. After Finnick made it to the top he sat back and gave the cat a questioning look.

"Let me introduce myself." She started in a calm voice and a small smile on her face. "I'm Officer Ashley tenner and I'm here to talk to you about the case." She gestured at him.

Finnick shifted uncomfortably in his seat, wondering what game she was playing. "Okay."

She noticed this and put her paw down on the desk. "I'll get straight to the point. I am going to ask you a few questions relating to the case. You may practice your right to remain silent and skip the question, however your cooperation with us directly influences how we treat your rather..." She took a moment to think. "… _questionable_ record."

"You may also call in a lawyer if you want and if you cannot afford one then the state will provide you with one. Do you understand what I have just told you Mr. Finnick?" She asked leaning a bit forward.

Finnick put on a defensive scowl. "Yeah I get you. I do have one question though. Why are _you_ doing this and not Nick and his cottontail friend?"

Officer Tenner donned a more serious expression. "Frist, let's reframe from calling the officers nicknames. At least during working hours. Secondly, Officers Wilde and Hopps have been assigned to gun training, so chief Bogo assigned me to question you."

Her expression softened a bit. "You don't have a problem with this, do you?"

"We'll see." He said simply.

"Alright, how would you like to proceed?" She asked kindly.

Finnick grunted, knowing he didn't have much of a choice. "If I fully 'cooperate' what do I get in return? I'm mean what exactly, cause the way I see it I either play your game or get sent to the big house."

Officer Tenner raised an eyebrow, but wasn't a bit surprised about his reaction. "Most mammals that make deals with the ZPD usually ask for reduced sentences or witness protection. In your case we will simply push your record aside and not bother to look into it at all. In addition we will also provide protection from the people you tried to assassinate you."

She gave him a questioning look. "What else do you want?"

For a moment Finnick thought about bringing up his van, but decided against it. He looked at the files to her left that may or may not have been his record and sighed. "What do you wanna know?"

Officer Tenner smiled and took a piece of paper from her right that had some writing on it. "Alright, let's begin."

* * *

Nick eyed his cup as he slowly walked back to his cubical. He frowned as he thought about what happened just 15 minutes ago. His opinion hasn't changed, however he does admit that he could have handled it better. He looked up and just a few feet away was his cubical. Right next to it was Judy's cubical, with that very bunny occupying it. Nick came to a stop and thought about his next move. Having no idea weathered or not she's still angry at him. A bad mood from either one of them will only worsen things.

With a heavy sigh he walked over to his cubical, placed his coffee on the desk and sat down. He peeked at Judy out of the corner of his eyes. She was busy on her computer and didn't pay any mind to him. A blank expression was plastered across her face as she typed away on the keyboard. Generally Nick would have just made a joke to clear the air, but he decided against it this time. Instead he went for something he knew she'd have to respond to.

"I heard that the wombat is ready to be move to Chris's office today. You ready to join them?" He asked as casually as possible.

Judy's expression didn't change and she didn't look away from the computer. "Sure, we said we'd be there for him."

"True. Think it'll take him long to get something?" He tried to keep it going.

"Maybe, who knows?" She leaned back and clicked on the mouse a few times.

Nick stared at his coffee for a moment and mustered a smile. "Trust me, you're gonna hope he makes major progress in record time after spending a couple of days with Finnick. You know he literally tried to bite my face off one time? You'd think it's just an empty threat cause of his small snout."

Judy stopped what she was doing and looked away from the screen as she took a moment to think. She finally turned to Nick with a more serious look. "If you have anything to say, just say it." Her voice was firm.

Nick looked at her in the eyes. "I-I was…" he swallowed hard. "That last thing I said was out of line. Just because he was on the wrong side of the law doesn't make his life worth any less than mine. I would rather have him imprisoned for a _very_ long time than have him dead."

He looked down at his desk and tapped his fingers on it for a few seconds. "Still, my opinion on guns hasn't changed."

Judy stared at him as she thought of her response. "I-I understand."

Nick's gaze shot up at her, surprised at what he just heard. "Really?"

"Yes. I may have been a cop for a long time now and I've seen the darker side of Zootopia. But not the way you've seen it." Her lower lip started to shiver as she continued. "You know very well what mammals are capable of and I think I do to."

"So what's holding you back?" Nick asked her.

She sighed as her ears fell behind her back and she fiddled with her fingers. "My dad, he uh. He owns a shotgun. It's mostly just for show, but he keeps just in case. It's a big farm and you get looters in the area so it is necessary to have something to protect the crops _and_ family with."

She wiped away a tear forming on her left eye. "There were times when he'd just give warning shots to scare them off. So I asked him to show me how to use it. He was very reluctant and I was very eager. Eventually he agreed to teach me how to use it."

"How did it feel like?" Nick asked softly.

"It was _fun_ actually. Dad had to buy more ammunition after I was done with it." She smiled momentarily before it faded again. "Shoot a few glass bottles and it can actually relieve some stress. But ultimately guns are used for a very different reason. At least in the paws of criminals. So I know how to use a weapon like that, but I just can't bring myself to use it against someone else. Especially since I've seen first paw what it can do."

Judy took a deep breath and looked at Nick, waiting for a response. Nick looked back at his coffee that probably wasn't very warm anymore and thought for a moment. He looked back at his partner and gave her a reassuring smile.

"You wanna take the bad guys down, not out. I get that. So just don't use it for that." He suggested.

"What do you mean?" She asked curiously.

"Not all your targets have to be another mammal. You can take out a car's wheels for example. I mean it's not as if you have a problem using them, you just don't want anyone getting seriously hurt, or worse." Nick explained.

Judy leaned on her desk and looked around. "I guess it's better to have it and not need it, than to not have it and need it." She said and faced Nicked again with a small smile.

"Exactly!" Nick exclaimed. "It's all about how you look at it, Carrots."

"Thanks for Listening, Nick." Judy said whole heartedly.

"No problem, Carrots. It only cost me a hot coffee." Nick joked, to which Judy rolled her eyes.

"I think you can afford the loss." Judy stated.

"I don't know, Fluff. It keeps me awake during the day. That seems pretty important." Nick noted.

Judy smirked. "More important than being kept warm at night by something soft?"

Nick's eyes widened. "Well, since you put it that way. The one could be considered more _irreplaceable_ than the other."

"I may just take that as a complement." Judy said and started typing on the computer again.

Nick chuckled and got on his own computer as well.

* * *

Two officers walked down a hallway with a dull wall to their right and prison cells to their left. The antelope and mountain goat came to a stop at one specific cell. The antelope took a key out of his pocket and unlocked the cell. The wombat inside was sitting on his bed facing them.

"Are you here to take me to teach support?" He looked down and sighed. "ili ty zdes', chtoby zabrat' menya v mogilu (Or are you here to take me to my grave)?" The two officers looked at each other and then back at the wombat without saying a word. The wombat shifted uncomfortably as he awaited their answer.

* * *

 **Note:** Ah yes, peace has been made and Finnick hasn't threatened anyone.

Hopefully, by the next chapter I'll have a beta, making it more enjoyable for you guys. Feel free to fav and/or follow if you enjoyed it and if you have any criticism or comments leave them in the reviews or pm me. have a great day/night.


	19. Chapter 19

The antelope raised an eyebrow as he looked at the wombat. "What did you say?"

The wombat relaxed a bit and let out a sigh of relief. He didn't trust any new faces in this place, regardless of whether they were officers or criminals. Not that anyone could blame him; Yuri doesn't like any loose ends and would always make sure to silence those that threatened him, or his business in any way.

"Nothing important." He responded and got off the bed. "So where are you taking me?"

The antelope took a step closer and pointed at the wombat. "Well Albert, it's time you help use take down Yuri's operations. So, tech support."

"Now hold out your paws so I can cuff you." The antelope demanded.

Albert did as he was told and watched as the antelope put the cuffs on him. Once he was done Albert's eyes moved to the mountain goat who had an unnerving grin on his face. Albert's eyes widened, but before he could say something the goat smashed his powerful horns against the antelope, knocking him down to the ground. The antelope groaned in pain and held his head.

"Sorry Joey, but I have different orders." Announced the mountain goat. " Nothing personal though."

Albert gasped. "Der'mo! Vy zdes', chtoby ubit' menya (Shit! You are here to kill me)." "Do I look like I can speak Russian?" Asked the goat slightly annoyed. "How did you get into HQ?" Albert asked taking a few steps back. The goat smiled smugly. "Actually, Yuri only recently hired me. I got a friend that already works for him and he offered me a sizable pay cheque and employment." "You chose money over a sworn oath to serve and protect!?" Joey asked enraged.

"This is about more than just money." He said firmly and pointed his taser at Joey. "Again, this isn't personal."

He held up his taser and shot Joey, who then screamed as he was electrocuted. His body was left spasming on the ground. The goat turned his attention back to Albert. "Come on!"

He grabbed Albert by the shoulder and forced him out of the cell. Another officer who had heard the screaming came running towards them. The wolf held one paw close to his taser as he got up to the two mammals.

"What happened?" He worriedly asked.

"This maniac attacked Joey. Go help him, I'll deal with this guy." The goat lied through his teeth.

The wolf seemed confused, but saw joey on the ground and decided to question how this happened later, regardless of how unlikely it sounded. The goat then ran towards the exit, holding on to the wombat as he did.

"Yuri must be really desperate if he's hiring idiots such as yourself." Albert commented

"Shut up and keep moving!"

They got out of the cell block in a hurry and this caught the attention of the officer in the area. The goat panicked and had to come up with a quick lie. In all honesty he should have thought this through more and come up with a better plan. However, there was no turning back now; he was either getting a big pay cheque, or a prison sentence.

"One of the prisoners escaped! We've got an officer down!" He shouted.

The other officer immediately responded and went for the cell block. Officer McHorn came to the goat and he didn't look too pleased. "We got a mammal down and you just left him there!?"

"We can talk about my actions later. We need to focus on the matter at paw." The goat said holding his one hoof up in defense.

"This isn't over, Ryan." McHorn said firmly and went for the cell block himself.

Ryan really started to panic now. He only had a few seconds before every officer in there came running out after him. He quickly ran towards the parking area, passing a few other officers on the way. They all started hearing that they should go after Ryan.

Finnick who got out of officer Tenner's office an overheard some of the messages from the walkie-talkies thanks to his large ears. One part really caught his attention. " _The goat could be one of Yuri's mammals."_

Finnck gritted his teeth and growled. He remembered the ram that gave him that message and probably was a part of the attack on him and Nick. "Someone is gonna die today."

Ryan finally got to the parking area and opened the door to one of the police cruisers. At the very least he made sure to have the keys to the closest one. He threw Albert on to the back seat and got in to the driver's seat.

"Come on, come on." He muttered as he tried to get the damned thing going.

The engine started up and he smiled in response. He smile faded as a few officers came out of the building. "Get out of the car!" One of them shouted.

"Hold tight and put on your seatbelt on, Albert." He advised the wombat.

"Hard to do with these cuffs on, you crazy goat!" Albert shouted angrily.

Ryan pulled away and drove towards the exit, nearly hitting a few of the officers as he did. Nick and Judy came out and bolted towards their own police SUV, followed by the other officers. Ryan came up to the gate that one officer attempted to close, but the cruiser was moving too fast that the officer jumped out of the way so that he wouldn't get run over. The cruiser scraped through the small opening, losing both side mirrors in the process.

"Death by an idiot. Not how I thought I'd go out." Albert said to no one in particular.

"You're gonna regret calling me that when we get out of this and back to Yuri." Ryan said in response.

"When? You are clinically insane if you think that you are getting out of this. If you don't crash first they will catch you." Albert noted.

"So I didn't think this through. So what? We got out of the station." Ryan stated as he swerved past several cars.

Albert got thrown around in the back as the cruiser swerved around. "This is what happens when you get money hungry rookies to do a professionals job. Why on Earth would he risk it?"

"I've had enough training as a cop to handle driving fast through the city." Ryan stated.

He looked into his rear view mirror and saw the approaching police vehicles. Desperate to get away he crossed over a red light and turned left. The cruiser slammed against another car, but kept going as the other car was forced off the road and into the sidewalk, nearly running over a few mammals.

"And why haven't you killed me yet? Where is your destination?" Albert asked frantically.

"What's with all the questions?"

Albert shook his head. "Yuri isn't stupid. The plan was never for you to bring me back. It was simply to get me out of the station so they could-"

Before he could finish, a black armored SUV slammed hard against the side of the cruiser. The cruiser was knocked off the road and on to the sidewalk. Mammals around the area screamed as ran they away from the incident. The SUV quickly reversed and pulled away as the police vehicles approached. Some of them chased after the SUV, while two others came to a stop at the busted up cruiser. It was bent inwards, with its windows smashed.

Nick and Judy were in one of the cars chasing after the SUV. Nick was determined not to let this one get away. "They're heading for Tundratown. We can't lose them!"

"We won't!" Judy assured him.

A report then came over the police radio. " _Officer Ryan Turner is deceased. The prisoner Albert has suffered severe injuries, but has a faint heartbeat. Medical team is on the way."_

"Shit!" Nick exclaimed. "There goes our hacker."

They now reached Tundratown and Nick tightened his grip on the steering wheel. The snow and slippery roads could easily bring a quick and undesirable end to the chase if he wasn't careful. The black SUV's break lights lit up as it aggressively reduced its speed and took a left turn. It's back drifted to the side, causing a loud screeching sound as the driver tried to regain control. Nick took advantage of this and instead taking the same kind of aggressive turn, he aimed straight for the side of the black SUV.

"Brace!" He shouted as the front of his SUV hit the side of the black SUV.

It wasn't a strong impact, but it was enough to send the black SUV in a 180 degree spin. The two cars came to a stop next to each other. Judy groaned after the impact and looked to her side. The other SUV seemed to have stalled. However, it would be started up again in no time.

"Nick, they're gonna get away." Judy warned.

Thankfully though, two police cruisers reached them. One stopped in front of the SUV, while the other one stopped on the opposite side.

Nick saw this. "It's not enough. We need to block it from the back as well." He noted frantically.

The window was rolled down from the black SUV. A snow leopard in the car aimed her machine gun at Nick and Judy. Nick's eyes grew wide. "Judy get down!" He instantly grabbed Judy and pulled her down. Judy yelped as he then unbuckled them both and dropped down to the bottom of the car as several rounds pierced the window and the door. Their small size allowed them to stay low enough to avoid getting shot. They heard the SUV pull into reverse, followed by what the sound of more gunfire coming from both sides.

"See how useless a taser would be in this case." Nick stated.

Judy grunted. "Not the time, Nick."

"I know. So it's about time we get an alternative." He said and waited for the gunfire to die down.

He then got on top of the passenger seat and poked his head out of the window. "We could use some firepower of our own over here."

The gray wolf looked up at Nick and then removed his pistol from its holster. He wouldn't need it since he already he was already armed with a shotgun. "It's a little big, but it should do."

Nick took the weapon in both paws and looked back at Judy. "Take the wheel. If we're lucky we can still track them down."

"You sure you can hold that thing?" Judy questioned unconvinced.

"Sure can, Fluff. Now get moving, we don't have all day." Nick told her.

* * *

" _Reports have come in that of a shootout between the police and mammals in a black SUV in Tubdratown. Citizens are advised to avoid Shiver Str. for the time being."_

A small sandy colored paw shut off the radio and focused back on the road. The fennec fox smiled as he sat in the passenger seat of a medium sized car. "You hear 'em Earl. We're goin' to Tundratown."

The hyena next to him grinned. "Ooo, we gonna mess some mammals up aren't we?"

"Yup, just keep your paws off the coppers. I'm technically on their side now." Finnick informed him.

"How ya get out of the HQ anyhow?" Earl questioned.

"It's easy to just walk out when everyone is occupied with catching a couple criminals." Finnick chuckled and then donned a menacing grin. "Now it's time to get back to the only vixen I could never avoid."

"Wait, we're goin' ta go see a vixen now? I thought we wanted ta go and hurt somebody." Earl said a little confused.

Finnick face palmed. "Revenge, dumbass! The vixen I can't avoid is revenge. Not an actual vixen. It's just something you fucking say."

"Oh, okay." The hyena said nodding his head.

Finnick rolled his eyes in annoyance and sat back as he waited to reach their destination.

* * *

 **Note:** Ooo, something is about to go down.

Hello Everyone!

Here is chapter 19 and I'm trying to keep to a schedule now where I upload a chapter every two weeks. I don't want to give anything away for chapter 20, so I wont. I'll just say that I'm really excited to write it.

I also want to say thank you again to my new beta **CAPTAINPRICE79**. Your help is much appreciated.

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Feel free to fav and/or follow the story. If you have any comments or criticism let me know in the reviews or pm me. I really do appreciate all the reviews. Have a great day/night!


	20. Chapter 20

The police SUV of Nick and Judy rounded a corner in search of the black SUV that had gotten away, followed by the other two police vehicles that got to them earlier. Thankfully the fresh snow on the road made it easier to track them down as the lines formed from the tires made it clear that someone in a hurry passed through here. The vehicle that created that was sliding around quite a lot and the two officers hoped that this wasn't just caused by some other random vehicle.

"So these were the same mammals that attacked you last night?" Judy asked uneasily as she followed the tire tracks.

"Yeah, I'm starting to think they're Yuri's new assassins, or at least the replacement for Kozlov." Nick said as he stared out the windshield. "The leopard is obviously a very trigger happy mammal."

"Here, this is where the tracks stop." Judy pointed to a large warehouse. "They go into that building."

The tire tracks ended by one of the garage doors that was closed up.

"It's no doubt a trap, Carrots." Nick looked at Judy. "They probably have some barricaded inside and a dozen mammals standing behind it ready to turn us into Swiss cheese."

"It's not like we're going in alone. We got back up and-" Before Judy could continue she got a call on her phone. "Hold on, Nick."

She took it out of her pocket and checked the caller ID. It was chief Bogo. She answered it. "Hello chief. We managed to track the attackers to a warehouse, though we have no idea what's waiting for us inside."

Nick was staring at her as she listened to Bogo's response. Her face changed to one of confusion. "Wait, chief. What do you mean Finnick's gone? He's a small guy, maybe he just fell asleep under a table or something."

Nick snickered at that and took out his own phone, deciding to give the fennec fox a call. As he looked for the number Judy continued her conversation with the chief.

"I agree, we can't worry about him now and yes we will discuss this later."

"Okay, chief. We'll wait for backup to arrive."

Judy ended the call and faced Nick who was busy dialing Finnick. After a few seconds of no one answering Nick ended it and made a clicking sound with his tongue. "Fin isn't answering his phone. Something isn't right."

"Well while we wait for backup we can try and figure it out." Judy suggested.

"Question is why would he just leave. As I understand it he already told the ZPD everything he-" Nick was interrupted by the sound of gunfire.

"They're shooting at us!?" Judy asked.

"Probably not willing to wait for backup like we are! We have to get to cover, these cars aren't bullet proof." Nick said and the two got out by the driver's side.

They quickly ran towards an alleyway and stayed behind the cover of the building. The other officers found cover by the opposite building and tried to return fire, however they were pinned down and can't risk it too much without taking a hit.

"Ms. Trigger happy must be at it again." Nick said as the two mammals breathed heavily from the sudden shock.

"We have to do something." Judy told him. "We have to get inside."

Nick's breathing finally calmed. "Okay, officer Hopps. But I need you to tell me you're ready to do what's necessary. If there is no alternative I need to know I can count on you."

She watched as he checked the clip of the pistol and then looked up at him. Her expression was one of worry and uncertainty. At this point she still had mixed feelings over the use of lethal weaponry, but she also knew that now was not the time to argue. "Alright, Nick. Just… try not to aim for anything _too_ important."

Nick looked down at her and took a deep breath. "I'll do what I can, Carrots, but no promises."

Judy reluctantly nodded as she understood his point of view. "We should get a move on."

* * *

Not too far away. An old brown car came to a stop. The sound of gunfire could clearly be heard from this distance. The Fennec Fox in the passenger seat looked at his hyena friend. "Looks like things have escalated. Got anything I can use as a weapon?"

"Not much. Ya didn't really give me any time ta prepare. Yer lucky I was even in the area at the time." Earl informed the small fox.

"Hmmm. So what do you have?" Finnick asked raising an eyebrow in question.

"Let me see." Earl looked up in thought as he started to name all the weapons he had on him. "A small knife, a wrench, a flash light…" he trailed off as he thought harder. He looked around the car until his gaze eventually fell on his paws. "And 8 claws, though I prefer to use those myself."

"All melee weapons, huh? Okay, we take all of that and try sneaking in. They ain't expecting us, so we still have the element of surprise." Finnick said and climbed out of the car, slamming the door shut behind him.

Earl got all the stuff he needed and walked over to Finnick. "What would you like?"

"Give me the wrench and the flash light." Finnick said and held out his paws as his friend gave him what he asked for.

"Okay, that leaves me with the knife and, uh." He looked at the knife in his right paw and then at his empty paw. "4 claws!"

Finnick looked at him for a moment, blinking a few times. " _If I survive this I'm seriously getting new partners."_ He thought to himself and then jogged in the direction of all the shooting. Earl followed soon after.

* * *

Nick and Judy managed to find a back door to the large warehouse. They stood on opposite sides and prepared to go inside. Nick placed his left paw on the door handle. He took a deep breath and opened the door. Judy aimed her taser forward and scanned the area for any threats.

"Seems clear." She whispered to her partner.

"Stay low and follow me." Nick said and took the lead.

The two closed the door behind them and took cover behind a stack of large creates and tried to get a better view on what was inside. Nick peeked around the creates and three heavily armed polar bears, a male reindeer and two wolves.

"Politsiya skoro zakroyet eto mesto (The police will have this place surrounded soon)." Stated one of the wolves.

"U nas net zalozhnikov i rychagov. Chto my dolzhny delat'? (We've got no hostages and no leverage. What are we supposed to do?)" Asked one of the polar bears.

"Eto mesto snabzheno dostatochnymi zapasami, chtoby my mogli srazhat'sya za den' ili dva. My prosto dolzhny upravlyat' nashimi resursami. (This place is stocked with enough supplies to keep us fighting for a day or two. We just got to manage our resources.)" The reindeer told them.

He looked at one of the wolves. "Natan, idi, ubedis', chto vse vkhody zaperty. (Nathan, go make sure all the entrances are locked.)" He then turned to the polar bear that spoke earlier. "Aleksandr, skazhi Natashe, chtoby ona ne ispol'zovala vse nashi boyepripasy srazu. (Alexander, go tell Natasha not to use up all our ammo at once.)"

The two mammals nodded and walked off to do what they were told.

Nick had observed them, but had no idea what they were saying. However, he didn't have time to guess when he saw one of the wolves approach them. "One of them is coming this way. Hide!" He whispered loudly to Judy.

They kept low and quickly made their way to another stack of creates and boxes. Thankfully with all the supplies and their small size, staying hidden wasn't too hard. Nathan got to the door and opened it, his eyes widened in surprise when he realized it wasn't locked.

"Vot der'mo! (Oh shit!)"He cursed and hoped no one saw.

He removed a set of keys from his pocket and looked at them one by one in order to find the correct key.

"Good thing we got in before he had a chance to lock that door." Judy noted. "I'm not sure how else we would've gotten in."

* * *

"So how are we gonna get in?" Earl asked Finnick.

The two stood at the back of the warehouse and didn't bother to go through any of the doors. " _No way they're stupid enough to leave a door open or unguarded."_ Finnick thought.

He looked around the building and then up at the second floor. "Up there." He pointed at a window that was slightly open. "You need to help me get in there."

Earl looked up at the window and then back down at Finnick with a raised eyebrow. "I'm not sure if ya know this, Fin, but a hyena is not a giraffe."

"What!? We're goona climb up the drain pipe, dumbass!" Finnick said, irritated at the hyena and pointed at the drain pipe.

"Ooh. Okay that'll work." Earl nodded in agreement.

"Now bend down so I can get on your back." Finnick ordered him. "And put these in your pockets." He gave Earl the wrench and flashlight."

Earl did as he was told, took the items and bent down so that Finnick climbed on his back. The hyena then proceeded to climb up the drainpipe till he got to the second floor window. "So how do _I_ get in?"

"That window is too big for me to move." Finnick noted.

The window was also out of reach for Earl so he couldn't move it himself. Honestly Finnick didn't mind going in alone, but at the same time it wouldn't hurt having someone watch his back. He thought for a moment.

"How about I see if I can find a door that doesn't have anyone guarding it, open it from the inside and text you to where it is." Finnick suggested.

"What about the cops? I can already hear the sirens." Earl said worriedly.

"Damn it! Alright, you'll have to stay out here than. Keep me informed on what's goin' on outside and help me find a way out when I'm done." Finnick said and moved to Earl's left shoulder.

"Now streach out your arm as far as possible."

"Okay, just hurry up." Earl stretched out his arm as far as he could, nearly reaching the window.

Finnick steadied himself on Earl's arm and carefully made his way to the window. As he did he started to feel Earl's arm tremble. "Keep her steady Earl."

"I'm tryin'. Ya are kinda heavy." Earl said as he felt his muscles wanting to give in.

Finnick came to the edge of his arm and jumped to reach the window. He stuck the landing and stabilized himself. Looking back at Earl, he gave him a thumbs up and jumped down into the building. He looked around, but didn't see anyone. So he relied on his hearing and heard several voices coming from different areas, in addition to the police sirens. Thankfully the gunfire had stopped.

"Oh, shit." He cursed as he came to a realization. "I left my wrench with Earl." His paws rolled into fists and he felt like hitting something.

He sighed. "Least I got the high ground."

"Come on, Fluff. We got to get to the second floor. We'll have the high ground from there." Nick said and checked if the coast was clear.

"Okay, I also texted chief Bogo and let him know that he's got eyes and ears on the inside." Judy informed him and then gave an awkward smile. "Sadly, he didn't take too kindly to that bit of info."

"He can yell at us later. Right now we have to get upstairs unseen." Nick was satisfied when he didn't see anyone close by. "Come on."

Before he could get away though, Judy grabbed hold of his arm. "Wait. We don't know who's up there. We haven't seen the crazy leopard lady in here yet."

"Damn, you're right."

A voice then came from outside over an intercom. " _This is the police, we have the place surrounded. Come out with your paws up."_

"Natan, bezopasny li vykhody !? (Nathan, are the exits secure!?)" Asked the reindeer.

"Da, nachal'nik! (Yes, boss!)" Nathan replied.

Nick seemed to be getting an idea. "Hey, we just need to open up the doors from the inside."

"How? They're all guarded." Judy asked.

"Hmmm. We'll probably need some sort of distraction. Big enough to get their attention, but at the same time won't give us away."

"Well you better start putting those gears in your head to work, Slick." She pointed at his head. "Because we don't have much to work with in here."

"I may have an idea, but one of us needs to get upstairs and-" Nick was interrupted again by more gunfire, though it sounded like it was shot inside the building and not directed outside.

Judy's ears fell behind her back and she grasped them in her paws. "Why are they shooting again?"

"Narushitel'! (Intruder!)" A female voice shouted.

"What? Who else is in here?" Nick asked.

* * *

Finnick's heart was beating fast; he came too close and took too big of a risk. It wasn't like him to make mistakes. When he saw her though all he could think of was what she and that ram did to his van. He didn't think straight and now he's being shot at.

"Shit shit shit!" He yelled and duck behind cover."That bitch is gonna fill me full of bullet holes. Think mammal, think."

He looked from left to right and saw nothing he could use. He tried to think of something, but nothing seemed to come to mind, until he remembered something. "I don't need a weapon." He whispered to himself.

He grew an evil smile. "Time to find out what face tastes like."

Finnick came to the realization that everything he needs, he already has. A voice that could scare bears, a small and fast body that's hard to hit, but quick to strike back and an attitude that would even send the boogeyman running. He's the little fennec fox no one should ever mess with, cause by now they should know that he is one badass mother-

* * *

 **Note:** Fin is about to unleash his wrath.

Firstly I just want to say sorry for the small delay, things got a bit busy for me. Secondly this chapter ended up being split in half after I decided leave you with a little cliffhanger. Don't worry though, I'll have the next chapter out sooner than usual and to make up for this delay and the split chapter. After that I'll return to the normal schedule.

Thanks again to my beta CAPTAINPRICE79 for the help.

Anyway, I do hope you enjoyed the chapter, if you did feel free to fav and/or follow. If you have any comments or criticism let me know in the reviews or pm me. Have a great day/night!


	21. Chapter 21

Finnick rolled his paws into fists and gritted his teeth. His ears turned in the direction of the approaching snow leopard. Animals may not naturally go savage anymore, but at this moment Finnick felt like he reached the borderline between slight insanity and being a complete animal. When Natasha rounded the corner and aimed her gun at the small fox , he leaped up at her and with his claws bared he latched onto her left hip. His claws dug into her skin like tiny hooks.

"Arrrrgghh!" She screamed in pain and dropped her weapon.

He then climbed up her back like a spider till he reached her neck. Natasha tried to remove him, but he held on tight. Hendrick the ram and Alexander came to her aid. Finnick tried several times to bite Natasha's cheeks, but missed each time. Hendrick looked around and saw an empty bucket he could use.

"Hold still Natasha!" Hendrick yelled while holding the empty bucket in his hooves.

He tried to hit Finnick with it, but the small fox jumped off just in time. Hendrick ended up hitting Natasha on the right side of her face, sending her to the ground a few feet away. The ram didn't stop to check on her and kept his sights on Finnick, who dodged another hit from the empty bucket. Alexander tried to grab him, but he was too fast and ran between his legs before making a right turn.

"Where'd he go?" Alexander asked as he searched for Finnick around his legs.

"There he is!" Hendrick pointed at Finnick who was almost within in reach of Natasha's machine gun.

"Stop him!" Hendrick shouted and threw the bucket at him.

Finnick jumped forward and managed to dodge it. He then saw Natasha try to step on him so he rolled to the side. He then scrambled to his feet and ran for the machine gun. When Finnick grabbed the weapon, which was quite large compared to him, he turned to face Hendrick and pulled the trigger.

"Shit!" Hendrick ducked to his left when a burst of rounds barely missed him.

Finnick on the other paw was knocked down on his back, unable to withstand the recoil. He groaned and slowly got up to see that he was now surrounded. Two wolves and a reindeer had joined the others.

"I don't know who you are little guy, but you just made a fatal mistake." The reindeer said and aimed a pistol at Finnick.

Finnick gulped as he hoped for a miracle. This he got seconds later. The same door that Nick and Judy used to get in was opened and a dozen officers came storming in.

"Drop your weapons!"

"Paws behind your head!"

The shock from the large mammals gave Finnick just the opportunity he needed to make his escape. However, he wasn't the only one who thought of getting away. He saw Natasha run into an office, gritting his teeth he decided to follow her. She used one of the chairs to smash open the window and climbed out. Still being on the second floor she hung as close to the ground as she could before dropping down.

Just as she did Finnck jumped out after her and landed on top of her as they hit the ground. Natasha screamed again and hurriedly pushed Finnick off of her. Ignoring the pain in her bleeding hip and from the broken glass shrads that got caught in her paws, she attempted to get up. Though she fell down to her knees after the pain from her now sprained ankle got to her. She couldn't put any weight on her left leg and tried to use the building to help support her body.

"Where do you think you're going?" Finnick asked in a low tone from behind her.

She breathed heavily for a bit before she turned her head to and looked down at him. Her one paw leaned against the wall to support her and the other paw held on to her wounded hip. "Away from here, back to a safe haven where I can recover."

Finnick was a little surprised at her straightforward answer. "Huh, well you ain't gonna get away. Earlier today I said that someone was gonna die today. Give me one good reason I shouldn't be a mammal of my word."

"Because some already died today. The goat and the wombat surely didn't survive that impact." She responded calmly.

Finnick opened his mouth to retort, but at first nothing came to mind and he grunted. "You destroyed my home." He pointed his index figure at her. "So why shouldn't I end y-"

Finnick was interrupted by a sudden burst of gunfire coming from inside. He looked up to the window he had just jumped out of and then back at the snow leopard. "You know what? I'm just gonna do it."

"To what end?" She asked.

Finnick was about to take a step forward, but stopped when she asked him that. "What do you mean?"

"I am a gun for hire. Killing is my job and I've done it many times before. You, however, are nothing more than a con mammal." She started to explain. "You trick mammals out of their hard earned money and maybe you've beaten up a few as well, but face it. _You_ are not a killer and murdering me will bring you nothing but a life on the run, or years in prison."

Finnick looked at her for a moment, considering what she had said. And it's true, he knew he was far from being a good guy, even if he was helping the ZPD. Hustling is how he earned most of his cash and he has been in his fair share of fights, but he hasn't killed a mammal before. He was already in deep trouble with the ZPD for sneaking out, if he did this they'd come after him. Nick might come after him.

"I guess I'm not." He muttered as he looked down.

He heard a _thud_ sound and saw Natasha now sitting down with her back against the wall. The gunfire had also died down and from what he could hear it seemed as if the bad guys were being pawcuffed. "You giving up?"

Natasha's adrenaline rush had died down and she could no longer ignore the pain her body was going through. "I won't make it far, not with my leg. And just because you won't kill me does not mean you won't stop me from trying to get away. You might try taking a bite out of my cheeks again." She chuckled.

"This way!" Someone yelled from a distance.

"You might want to run now. I doubt they know you were here." Natasha said looking a little tired.

"What's to stop you from tellin'?" Finnick asked.

Natasha stared at him for a moment. "Let's call it even."

Finnick couldn't believe what he was hearing, but decided not to question it and ran before the officers showed up. Officer Fangmeyer and Wolfard came to her having smelt the blood.

"She's hurt." Fangmeyer obsevrevd. "Cuff her and help me get her up."

Natasha held out her paws and allowed herself to be cuffed and taken away. She's not one to surrender and she knows what Yuri does to his mammals that get arrested, but she also knew that it was only a matter of time before Yuri's rash decision's destroys his organization. Now was her chance to choose a side.

* * *

Nick and Judy walked side by side back to their SUV and watched as the prisoners were taken away. One of the officers, an elk, was being treated after receiving a gunshot wound to her left shoulder.

"I guess I'm just now starting to understand why small mammals like us used to be looked down upon." Judy started. "It's because no one expects us to be able to handle stuff like this."

"The world can be a dark and dangerous place. Even in a city like Zootopia." Nick stated.

Judy looked at the gun Nick still had in his paw. "I'm glad you didn't have to use it."

"Huh? Oh… yeah." He rubbed the back of his neck. "We got lucky this time."

"And I wonder how long it will last." Came the unmistakable voice of chief Bogo. "Cause you're going to need some luck to survive the chat we're going to have in my office when we get back."

Both of them gulped and smiled nervously.

* * *

Finnick got back to Earl's car and saw the hyena sitting inside. He opened the passenger side and got in. "Get us out of here."

"Will do." Earl said and pulled away.

Finnick looked at the dry blood on his claws for a moment and thought about what Natasha said. He also thought about how this day turned out. Earlier today he was helping the ZPD, later on he wanted to kill someone and after that he was reminded of where he draws the line.

"Did ya get them?" Earl asked eyeing the blood stains.

"I didn't kill nobody if that's what you mean." He said still looking at his claws.

"So what now?"

"I don't know yet."

* * *

 **Note:** It's been a rough day, Fin. It's been a rough day.

Hello everyone!

I did say that this chapter would come out sooner and now it's back to the normal schedule.

Thank you to my beta **CAPTAINPRICE79** , as always your help is much appreciated.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, if you did feel free to fav and/or follow. If you have any comments or criticism let me know in the reviews or pm me. Have a great day/night!


	22. Chapter 22

"I give you two a simple order, and what do you do? The exact opposite!" Chief Bogo scolded the fox and rabbit officers. "I understand that you came under fire and had to take action, but going behind enemy lines like that was going too far!"

Nick and Judy shared the same large seat as they sat across chief Bogo's desk. Nick decided to respond first. "Chief, our fellow officers were under fire and we were in a position to do something about it. Even if we never really got as far as stopping the gunfire ourselves, we did make it possible to bring things to an end much faster."

"We also made sure to stay out of sight and keep our heads low." Judy added.

Chief Bogo starred angrily at them for a moment and sat up straight. "Alright, let's say for a moment that I agree with your actions under the circumstances. What did you do in there? Because everyone in there seemed to be occupied with something else when we entered."

Nick and Judy looked at each other before Judy proceeded to give an answer. "That's what we still don't get. They all seemed distracted by something, but we couldn't make out what."

"We still haven't questioned anyone, they should have answers." Nick said and leaned back into the chair.

The chief nodded. "Then there's still our little friend that went MIA just as things heated up."

"I've made several attempts to contact him." Nick sighed and shrugged.

Chief Bogo grunted and rubbed his temple. "Get to work on questioning and have your reports done before you leave. Dismissed."

"That's it?" Nick asked surprised.

"I have to get started on all the paper work today's events caused if I plan on going home tonight. I still want to talk about the firearm training you two decided to skip today, but there's no time." The chief said, stressed out with everything that has happened and all the unanswered questions.

"Yes, sir." Judy said, knowing that last topic was going to be directed mostly at her when they get to it.

Nick and Judy walked out of the office. Chief Bogo sighed and leaned back into his chair knowing that this was going to be another late night. Those two officers may be a bit reckless sometimes, but they sure do get results. He put on his reading glasses and took the first sheet of paper from the stack to his left.

"I'll finish this one and then get a cup of coffee." He said and started to read what was on the paper.

* * *

"That went well all things considered." Nick noted as the two went down to the first floor.

"I guess, but there is still a lot to be done and I doubt these guys will give us much answers, if any at all." Judy said as they reach the end of the stairs.

"They're not the most talkative bunch, but maybe they can at least shed light on what caught their attention." Nick said hopefully.

"Let's find out."

"Just give me a minute. I need to get something by the cubical." Nick pointed in that direction and turned towards it.

"Don't take too long." Judy looked at him as he hurried off before looking in front of her again and walking towards the interrogation room.

Nick reached his cubical and looked around to see if anyone was nearby. Satisfied, he took his phone out of his pocket and went to his messages. He pressed on a recent message received from Finnick.

" _Going into hiding for a while. Don't ask me why, just be happy you and your mate get the safe house to yourselves."_

Nick shook his head. That little fennece fox probably had something to do with what happened at the warehouse. Those claw marks on Natasha's hip were fresh and belonged to a much smaller mammal than himself. "Don't make me bring you in, buddy." Nick murmured.

After putting his phone back and getting a pen and a note pad from his desk he went to the interrogation room. As expected the mammals weren't very cooperative. Most simply kept quit, the reindeer just said that they just killed someone who was expected of talking and that he wasn't going to suffer the same fate. However, one of the mammals actually seemed willing to talk.

* * *

"Natasha right?" Nick started. "You've got quite the thing for guns don't you?" He said as he stood in the corner of the room with a file in his paws.

"Everyone needs a hobby." She stated calmly.

She was cuffed to the table, she smirked and her tail swayed slowly from left to right. "Though my aim could use some work."

"Is this some sort of joke to you!?" Judy asked angrily, the thought of her shooting Nick lingering in her mind.

"No, but I am blunt." She admitted.

"Well it's been a long night and I only have two questions I care about right now. Who hurt you and what do you know about Yuri's operations at the harbor?" Judy asked sternly, observing the leopards every move.

"I'm just a hired gun. I don't know much about what he does at the harbor, other than the fact that he gets most of his supplies from there. He also has at least fifteen mammals there on his payroll, that I know of anyway." Natasha then turned her head to face Nick. "As for who hurt me. Let's just say that mammal has enough to deal with at the moment. Besides, no need to burden the police with another arrest that isn't Yuri."

Nick kept his expression as plain as he could, but his scowl was still clearly visible. The way she looked at him confirmed it. Finnick had gone after the mammals that destroyed his home. Though to be honest, he was still thankful that Natasha didn't give any information on Finnick. Maybe it was some sort of apology, but now he knew the truth and now he had to decide whether or not he wanted to say anything about it.

"Any other names that you are willing to give us?" He asked putting the thought aside for now.

"Give me a pen and paper." She said and looked back at Judy who raised her eyebrow.

"Why are you so cooperative?" Judy was skeptical.

"Because I owe no loyalty to Yuri. Like I said I'm just a gun for hire. Yuri will eventually lose, he is taking too many risks and none are paying off. Might as well join the winning side while I have a chance." She explained.

"Join? You're going behind bars for a _very_ long time." Judy said and pointed a finger at Natasha.

"There are still advantages gained from willingly cooperating with the ZPD." She stated.

This frustrated Judy. She was glad that she didn't have to force information out of the snow leopard, but she didn't want Natasha to get any leniency on the duration of her sentence. She rolled her paw into a fist, smashed it on the table and let out a frustrated sigh.

"I understand why you are angry. I would be too if someone tried to kill my mate and they didn't get what they deserved." She looked at the two of them and chuckled when she saw their flustered expressions.

"W-what… We are not. Stop trying to change the topic." Judy said as her cheeks turned red.

"I can smell it, but I won't tell anyone." Her smirk grew.

"It's late and the doctor said you still need rest." Nick cut in. "We'll talk again in the morning."

"I look forward to it."

* * *

After a long day at work Nick and Judy finally arrived at their temporary home. Two officers were tasked to guard them, not that the fox and rabbit cared about safety at this moment.

"I really just want to finish this case." Judy said as she took off her badge and placed it on the night stand.

"You're just a little stressed out, Carrots. Remember you love working to bring down the bad guys." Nick said and hugged her from the side.

"I do, but I also want the case to be solved and the culprits put behind bars." She gazed up at him.

"Well, a stressed bunny isn't a very productive bunny. You could use a little R&R." Nick said as he gazed back at her.

"This is our first time staying over at the Rainforest district. It may not be a vacation spot, but we can still make the most of it." Judy turned her body to face him.

"Now you're talking, Carrots." Nick cupped her left cheek. "A little _together_ time would do us both good."

Nick leaned in and they shared a long passionate kiss. It's been awhile since they last got intimate with each other and with what they've been through they needed it now. They broke the kiss and stared lovingly into each other's eyes.

"We probably shouldn't get our police uniforms wrinkled up." Nick said as he held her close.

Judy smirked. "Right, we have to look _presentable_ now don't we?"

"Smart bunny."

"Sly fox."

With that they continue their passionate kissing and soon started removing their uniforms to take full advantage of this opportunity they had to be _together_.

* * *

 **Note:** It's about time Nick and Judy took a little _intimate_ break again.

Hello everyone!

Honestly at this point I'm just going to throw my schedule out the window. Got too many tests to focus on at the moment. So please understand if the next chapter(s) take a while to come out.

Thanks to my beta **CAPTAINPRICE79** for his continued help.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. If you did feel free to fav and/or follow. Let me know your comments, or criticism in the reviews or pm me. Have a great day/night!


	23. Chapter 23

**Note:** Hello everyone. I'm really sorry for being gone for over a month now. University kept me really busy and I just didn't find the time for this. So please, enjoy the chapter.

* * *

 **Tundratown, Yuri's residence; 22:00**

The large polar bear stood in his office with his paws folded behind his back as he stared out of the window. Things have no doubt gotten really bad for him lately and he has become desperate. The assassination attempt earlier in the day had not gone as planned, but honestly what could he expect. It was a poor plan to begin with. In the past he would have sent Koslov out to do the dirty work, but now he was hiring cheap mercenaries and assassins. The ZPD still didn't stop all his operations, but the harbor is now under constant surveillance and he can hardly move any products from there onto the streets.

Fewer products means less income, less income means less mammals that can be bribed and so on. Yuri pinched the bridge between his eyes and sighed.

A sudden knock on the door brought him out of his train of thoughts. "Come in."

Another polar bear come in through the door dressed in a suit. "Mr. Trickett is here, sir."

"Let him in." Yuri said, not looking away from the window.

The guard looked down and motioned for Mr. Trickett to enter. A lynx walked into the room wearing a grey hoodie and blue jeans. He looked up at the guard with a smirk before directing his gaze at the mammal he came to see.

"Zdravstvuyte, Yuri (Hello, Yuri). You must have quite the view with the way you're staring out the window." He said putting his paws into his hoodie's pockets.

Yuri turned took face his guard and nodded at him. The guard left and closed the door.

"Have a seat."

"Someone steal your breakfast big guy? What's with the utter look of depression?" Mr. Trickett asked as he jumped onto one of the large seats.

Yuri furrowed his brow at the smaller mammal. "I'm not in the mood for your little jokes."

"But you are desperate to get out of the hole you dug for yourself, which is why you'll be willing to put up with it." He said, with smirk.

Yuri stared at him for a moment and then decided to sit down in his chair. "With Natasha and Hendrick now in the custody of the ZPD I have no choice, but to _temporarily_ employ you."

"That's my favorite kind of employer. They generally provide more desirable paychecks and let me do things my way." He said and pointed his thumb at himself.

"Are you going to make a comment on everything I say?" Yuri asked getting a little annoyed. Mr. Trickett stared at Yuri and waited for him to continue. "I'll assume that means no."

"Your assumption is correct."

"Enough!" Yuri shouted. "I can still change my mind and have you escorted out of here in a body bag." Mr. Trickett looked more amused than anything else. "I'll stop now."

Yuri exhaled and allowed himself a moment to calm down. "Our biggest threat right now is the fox and bunny officers, but they seemed to have left their homes. Apparently they're hiding out somewhere in the Rainforest District."

Yuri leaned back. "Even if we do find them they're sure to be under heavy guard. I also can't afford to try and assassinate anyone that was captured in today's shootout either."

"No kidding! What an excellent job that goat did. He even got himself killed in the process." Mr. Trickett said with a chuckle.

The large polar bear looked displeased with the lynx. "What did I say?"

"Oh come on! Even you got to admit you hired a bunch of imbeciles." He said throwing his arms forward.

"I'm starting to wonder if you'll be any different."

"You insult me with your lack of confidence." He said calmly.

"And you insult me with your very presence." Yuri said angrily. "One more outburst and I'll have you skinned alive. Do we have an understanding?"

"Since I don't feel like dying a horrible death I'm going to say yes."

Yuri took out a file from one of the drawers on his desk and placed it on the table. "It's time to take a different approach. Something I should have attempted in the first place."

He pointed at the file. "In here is all the information my mammals have gathered concerning friends and family of the two officers. The bunny's family does not live in the city, but the fox, Nicolas Wilde. His mother is here."

"So what's the job? Capture or kill?"

"I need her alive, Mr. Trickett." Yuri said firmly.

"Please, just call me Gregory, or even just Greg for short." The lynx said.

Yuri stared at him for a while before continuing. "That's not the only thing. I need all the leverage I can get."

"Of course." Greg said and took the file. "What else do you need me to do?"

* * *

Greg left Mr. Big's property and waited for the cab he dialed earlier a few blocks away. It was getting late and he needed to get up early in the morning to prepare. You have to do things smart in this kind of business and can't just go in guns blazing. Hopefully his son will learn from these mistakes and won't repeat them. Not that the next generation of Kingpins was any of his concern, as long as the current ones kept providing him with jobs.

The cab finally arrived and a caribou stuck out his head. "You the guy who called?"

"That's me." Greg got in and told the driver where he was going.

He looked through the file Yuri gave him. It had all the info he needed for the job. If Yuri's assassins were half as good as his scouts he wouldn't be in this mess. Maybe it's just because they charge more. Money has become a problem and Yuri's weapons trade has come to a near standstill.

"Doing some late night work?" The cabbie asked.

"Huh? Nah just finished up for the day actually." Greg responded and closed the file. "Right now I'm looking forward to a _good_ night's sleep."

"What kind of work do you do?" The cabbie asked trying to make conversation.

"I'm a freelancer. Do whatever job comes by and keep my services cheap so mammals will spread the word or hire me again." Greg said enthusiastically.

"Must be nice to work for yourself."

"It has its perks, though these days jobs can be hard to come by." He looked at the file for a moment. "You wouldn't happen to have anything that needs to be moved from point A to B, or just odd jobs done around the house?"

"Things that hard that you have to try and get a job from a cabbie huh?" The caribou asked and chuckled. "Sorry to burst your bubble, but I don't have anything for you."

Greg snapped his fingers. "Dang! Well ain't no harm in asking. You never know what you might get."

"With that kind of positivity I'm sure you'll get a lot jobs."

"Getting the customer to like you is half the job. After you get acquainted _then_ you can piss him off." Greg said and smiled at the memory of his earlier meeting.

"Won't they just get someone else if you do that?" The cabbie asked.

"Not as long as you make sure there's no alternative worth looking at and you stay within a reasonable level of pissing someone off." He said leaning back into his seat.

They soon arrived outside of an apartment building. After paying the cabbie Greg said goodbye and walked inside. By the reception desk sat an artic fox reading a magazine. The lynx smiled and made his way to her.

"Excuses me ma'am."

The arctic fox looked down at the lynx in front of her.

"I'm looking for a place to rest for a couple of nights. My employer recommended this lovely place." He said and gesture at the surrounding area with his paw.

"Your employer must not like you very much." She joked.

"I'm pretty sure he hates me, but still needs me to get the job done." He said and leaned on the desk. "So is there room, or will I need to find a nice box to crawl into?"

"There is a room available Mr. uh…?"

"Springer! Andrew Springer and according to that expertly designed name tag, you must be Candice." He said with growing smile and leaned a little forward.

"Uh yeah." Candice started to feel a little uncomfortable. "Just give me a minute to check you in okay."

"Not a problem." He looked at her for a moment and stood back. "I apologize if a came on a little strong. I can be very enthusiastic, but don't want to send the wrong message."

"Oh, it's alright Mr. Springer." Candice said while writing in a book.

After checking him in Candice gave the lynx his keys and told him the room number. "Enjoy your stay here Mr. Springer."

"Will do and please, call me Andrew, or just Andy for short." He said and walked up the stairs.

* * *

 **Note:** Is Gregory even your real name?

A short chapter I know, but I wanted to get something out to show that this story has not been abandoned.

Thank for the continued support from my beta **CAPTAINPRICE79.**

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, if you did feel free to fav and/or follow. If you have any comments or criticisms let me know in the reviews or pm me. Have a great day/night!


	24. Chapter 24

Nick stood in front of the bedroom mirror to make sure he looked presentable. He saw a bit of loose fur on his shoulder and lightly brushed it off. A broad smile formed on his muzzle as he was now satisfied with how he looked.

"Ready to go, Nick?" Judy asked from the other side of the room. "We have a lot of work ahead of us today."

"We have a lot of work every day, Carrots. It's just that some days are more life threatening than others." Nick said as he walked over to the door and stopped for a moment. "If nothing comes up this weekend, mind if I take you somewhere?"

Judy raised an eyebrow. "You mean a date?"

"More like taking you out to meet someone. Someone I'm sure will be happy with the way things turned out for me." He said half in thought.

This made Judy curious. "Who? I already met most of your 'acquaintances'."

"I never said this was one an 'acquaintance'." Nick said as he opened the bedroom door and walked into the living room.

"Oh come on, Nick! Tell me." Judy begged and followed him.

"You're a smart bunny, Fluff. I'm sure you can figure it out." Nick said with a playful grin.

"Is it someone important to you?" She asked with a childlike excitement.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"At least give me a clue." She said with her nose twitching vigorously.

"I think she'll like you." He said simply and went outside of the apartment.

"That's not a cl- Oh!" Judy followed him again in an attempt to get more answers. "Wait, what other females do you have in your life?"

"Are you jealous?" Nick asked teasingly.

"No! I'm just… interested."

"Sure you are."

"Stop messing with me, Nick." Judy said and decided to give it a little more thought.

Nick knew a lot of mammals, but very few were actually close to him, that she knew of at least. He did mention that this person would be happy with the way things have gone for him. If it was a close friend chances are they would have met already. So it must be someone he hasn't spoken to in a while, but is still very important to him.

Judy gasped. "Nick! A-are we going to go see your mother?"

He didn't answer her, he just looked at Judy and gave her a genuine heartfelt smile.

* * *

Greg wore the same clothes he did yesterday. He didn't actually bring anything with him other than the file on his targets. Not that he really minds though, especially considering he'd have someone deliver him all the _essentials_ needed for his stay. Hoping that it had already arrived he made his way downstairs to the receptionist.

"Morning, uh Candice, right?" He greeted the arctic fox.

"Yes and good morning to you too. By the way a few things have been delivered here for you." She said and gestured to the side where a couple of suitcases and some boxes laid.

"Wonderful!" He said and clapped his paws together. "I've been expecting these."

"Need any help caring them upstairs?" Candice asked politely.

"No need, I've got this. The workout will be good for me."

He had to make three trips to gather all his things and take them upstairs. When he finally put down the last box he was out breath and leaned against the bed. "I need to start charging extra for jobs at places without any elevators."

When he finally got his breathing under control again he opened up one of the bags. It was filled with clothes and he reached in deep with one arm in search of something. He found what he was looking for and pulled out his arm with a small pocket knife now in his paw. Walking over to one of the boxes Greg used the pocket knife to carefully cut through the tape that sealed it. Once done he placed the knife in his hoodies pocket and opened the box.

The lynx smiled broadly. "Everything seems to be in here."

Now all he needed to do was take a quick shower and change his clothes before starting with the mission. He walked over to the door to make sure it was locked and then took the bag full of clothes with him to the bathroom.

"Nothing like a warm shower to get you ready for an unlawful days work." He said softly and closed the bathroom door behind him.

Not long after the lynx finished his morning routine he gathered the things he'd need for the day and laid it out on the bed. In his left paw he held a clipboard and in the other paw a black pen. He now also wore a black suite and tie to undertake the job for the day.

"Fancy vacuum cleaner, check." He said and made a mark on the piece of paper on the clipboard. "Rope and duct tape, check. Piece of cloth, check. Goodnight chemicals, check."

He smiled at all the items. "Now all I need is a ride with a trunk big enough to fit a fox." He tapped the pen against his chin as he thought for a moment.

Steeling a vehicle would likely cause problems and make the job much harder than it needs to be. The other option was renting a car for the day, but he'd need to be wary of any cameras and keep his face as concealed as possible without raising suspicion.

He sighed. "It's gonna cost me extra."

Greg walked over to one of the suite cases and retrieved a wallet from it. He looked at a number of I.D. cards before choosing one and putting it in his pocket. Digging inside the suitcase again he took out a small container and opened it to reveal a pair of blue contact lenses.

* * *

Nick sat by his cubicle holding his cellphone in his right paw. For a moment all he did was stare at it and think about what he was going to do next. Judy had gone to the restroom which left him some time alone, which he felt was a good time to make the call. A text might have done the trick, but it just didn't feel right. It had to be a call, he had to hear her voice.

Nick took a deep breath and then made the call. As he held it next to his ear he heard the sound of the call going through. Now he just needed to wait and hope for an answer, which came seconds later.

"Hello?" Asked a female voice from the other side.

Nick had remembered that he changed his number several times over the years to make sure certain contacts were no longer… in contact with him. "H-hi mom. It's me, Nick." He swallowed hard as he waited for a response.

"Nicholas!? I-is that really you?" His mom asked, her shock evident in her voice. "It's been so long since I've heard your voice. How have you been?"

"I know." Nick looked around to make sure no one was close by. "I'm sorry about that. I've been doing well so far. Got a good job and I'm actually helping people these days."

"Oh, that's _so_ good to hear Nicholas dear."

At this point Nick was fighting hard to keep his emotions in check. He knew however, that it won't be long till those emotions got the better of him, so he had to cut the conversation sort. "Listen mom, I can't really talk right now, but I wanted to know if I could come over tomorrow."

"Yes!" His mom replied instantly. "Yes of course, dear."

"I'll come around lunch than."

"Okay, I'll prepare something nice for the two of us."

"Make that three. I-I love you, mom."

There was a moment of silence before she replied. "I love you too, Nicholas dear."

Nick quickly hung up the phone and wiped away the single tear that ran down his cheek. He needed to stay strong and make sure no one saw him like this, so he took a few deep breaths and shook his head. Focusing on work should help keeps his thoughts from lingering on the conversation he just had. He spent years keeping his emotions from the rest of the world, now was not the time or the place to let mammals see his vulnerable side.

* * *

Greg drove around the more 'edgy' part of Savannah square. According to the file Yuri gave him his first target was here. He now wore a bowler hat that was tilted a bit to the front. This was to help conceal his face a little from any cameras at the car rental, which went quite smoothly. As he drove by some of the houses he looked over at the open file on the passenger seat that had a picture of the house.

"Should be one of these." He murmured and looked back up at the houses.

A few seconds later his eyes light up in excitement. "Ah yes, there it is! I think." He quickly glanced back at the picture to confirm. "Yep, that's definitely it."

He came to a stop next to the house and pulled up the parking break. Greg rubbed his paws together and then got out of the car. Walking to the trunk he created a few possible scenarios of how the interaction might go in his head. In all honesty this wasn't the best plan he could come up with, but he felt it had the potential to be the most entertaining. After pressing the button on the keys unlocking it he opened it fully. Inside was a small vacuum cleaner, a clipboard, a bottle and a large suite case.

Greg stared at the bottle for a bit and then at the vacuum cleaner. The one got him excited while the other saddened him a little, but now was not the time to think about it. He took out the piece of cloth from earlier and looked at his surroundings. It seemed clear so he took the bottle, opened it and carefully dampened the cloth with the liquid inside. He then folded the piece of cloth and put it back into his pocket. Next he took out the vacuum cleaner and closed the trunk.

With most confident smile spread across his face he walked over to the entrance as if he was walking towards the center of the a stage about to give a performance and rang the doorbell. A few moments passed before the door opened a small bit. The chain from the lock was the first thing Greg noticed and then the mammal herself came into view, at least half of her head did.

"Good afternoon ma'am!" He said enthusiastically and tipped his hat. "Would you kindly mind me bothering you for a moment and-"

"No!" She cut him off and slammed the door.

"So you don't mind!? Are you simply unlocking the door now? If money is the issue not to worry, it's the least of your problems… I-I mean it's not a problem!" He pressed his ear against the door to listen for any sounds of movement.

All he could hear was some mammal talking about the news over the television, or maybe it was the radio. "Aww, I spent 10 minutes coming up with a good sales pitch. That's what you get for trying to sale something to poor mammals."

With a somewhat saddened expression he looked at the vacuum cleaner in his paws and dropped it to the floor. "The hard way than."

* * *

 **Note:** Damn. I'm sure he had an excellent sales pitch. Oh well.

I noticed the last chapter had a small bit where everything was bunched up and must have made reading that bit frustrating or just not very nice. I am sorry about that and I did fix it now.

Hello everyone! This would have been out earlier, but I caught a cold and just entirely lost the mood to write. Feeling much better now though. I thought I'd focus a little more on Greg in this chapter. I genuinely like this OC and wanted to develop his character more, instead of making him just another simple bad guy... uh mammal.

I also tried to play around with some symbolism, not sure how well I did in that regard, but I'm sure you can kind of see where I did it.

As always, thank you to my beta **CAPTAINPRICE79!**

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. If you did feel free to fav and/or follow. Let me know what you thought about it in the reviews or pm me. Have a great day/night!


	25. Chapter 25

**Note:** So sorry this took another month. I may be getting near the end now, but it seems the closer it comes to that the less time I have to write. Nonetheless I will finish this story!

Enjoy

* * *

Greg sat in his car in the parking lot of a local sweet shop. He sat with his arms crossed and hummed a tune to himself as he waited for the time to pass by. The long wait since his earlier attempt today gave him a lot of time to think. Something he didn't enjoy doing when it didn't involve coming up with a plan. Your thoughts have a tendency to go all over the place when you're not focused on anything. He tried playing music on the radio, but that just made his thoughts more creative and he'd get way too into it.

The lynx sighed and looked outside. "Might as well get started."

His first plan would have been quick and easy. Not to mention mammals this side of town don't normally interfere with others activities, especially if it is the kind of activities that could put their own lives at risk. This time he had to be more forceful and he'd rather go in quiet and unseen. It was just passed 9pm and he assumed that someone her age would probably go to bed earlier than most mammals. Greg started the car and drove back to the house. When he got there he noticed that none of the lights were on.

"Hopefully she's fast asleep by now." He muttered.

He parked the car two houses down where the lights were also off. After getting out of the car he made his way over to the back of Mrs. Wilde's house. He took out a lock pick and started unlocking the back door. A _click_ sound made him smirk and he slowly opened the door which creaked slightly. He grimaced at the sound and hoped it didn't wake her up.

"Stupid old doors." He whispered and decided not to close it. It wasn't windy so the door probably wouldn't slam shut.

Thankfully, he was very light on his feet and didn't make any sound. The house was small so finding her bedroom was no problem, but unfortunately for him the door was closed. It may not be locked, though he was sure it would creak just like the back door.

" _Shit! What now?"_ He thought.

He could purposely make a noise to bring her out, but what if she called the cops instead. On the other paw he could just barge in and threaten to shoot if she didn't do as he said. The old lady might not surrender without a fight though and he'd rather have this go down without anyone getting hurt, namely himself.

" _Maybe she sleeps like a rock._ " He thought and placed his paw in the door handle.

Greg took out his pistol just in case, however he kept the safety on as he had no intention of shooting her. He quickly opened the door and pointed the pistol at the bed. His jaw dropped when he didn't see anyone sleeping on it. A shadowy figure appeared behind him and he could sense her presence.

"I knew you'd come back." Said Mrs. Wilde while holding a frying pan firmly in her paws and wearing a pink night gown.

"Damn it." Was all Greg said before dodging a swing that would have knocked him out and he lost his pistol in the process.

"You think you can just break into my house-" She swung again. "-and _rob_ me!?"

Greg ran into the living room after dodging a second time. "Actually, I was trying to abduct you."

She scoffed. "The nerve! You have no respect for your elders!"

Greg managed to grab ahold of her paws before she could swing again and kept them in place. "I do, I'm just a little short on cash."

Mrs. Wilde kicked Greg in his stomach causing him to let go of the and bend over in pain. She then tried to hit him, but he was able to bring up his arms just in time to shield his head.

"Aaaahhh! That hurts!" He cried out in pain.

"It better, now get out of my home." She demanded.

Greg looked around for anything he could use since he dropped his gun. The adrenaline helped ease the pain in his arms, but the old fox hits hard and he could take one like that. He noticed a picture frame on the T.V. stand, grabbed it and tossed it at her. Mrs. Wilde gasped and caught it in one of her paws. In that moment Greg ripped the pan from her other paw and pressed a piece of cloth against her snout. She tried to pull away, but he kept it on her until she lost consciousness and fell to the floor.

"That's one tough mamma." Greg said as he rubbed his arms.

He looked at the picture that he threw and saw that it was of a toddler fox, presumably Nick Wilde. It was still dark, but with his night vision he could make out that the little guy looked happy. No wonder she didn't want it to get damaged. He picked it up and placed it back on the television stand.

"One down."

* * *

 **09:05; Nick and Judy's safe house**

Nick ran around the bedroom from the close rack to the mirror, each time taking a different piece of clothing. Judy watched with a smirk as her partner moved like a teen getting ready for his first date. The fox didn't seem to like any of his options and this started to frustrate him.

"Argh! What am I supposed to wear?" He said gripping his head.

"I thought men just put on whatever smells decent." Judy said in a mocking tone.

Nick grunted and looked at her. "This is important. Wait! What about my uniform, o-or is that too forward? Should it be a surprise?"

"Nick, calm down." Judy said while raising her arms and motioning him to ease up. "This is your mom. I'm sure she'll huge you half to death even if you're dressed in some old rags."

"Just wear a nice shirt with some matching trousers, and _not_ your tropical shirts." she said and gave him a stern look.

Nick nodded and walked back to the clothes rack. "I'm just glad I finally did something she could be proud of. I-I know she'll love me regardless, but I just wanna see her with that warm smile only a mother can have."

"Aww, Nick." Judy held back her tears and hugged her loving fox. "That's so sweet."

"Don't get used to it, Fluff." He said and returned the hug.

"Now let's get ready. I'm sure your mom is just as excited to see us." Judy said and pushed him into the bathroom.

Judy sighed happily as he went inside and closed the door. Just the thought of them meeting up again created a warmth in her heart that she simply couldn't get enough of. Considering she could hardly hold her tears back a moment ago she should probably take some tissues with, just in case. She rolled her eyes at herself. There was no question that tears of joy would be pouring out of her eyes when Nick and his mother finally came together after such a long time.

The names Natasha gave them were also a big help in terms of the investigation. The snow leopard might not feel any remorse, but at least she's been helpful. Soon they'd be able to bring Yuri to justice and make Zootopia a safer place.

Judy took out a lovely blue sundress from the clothes rack that she thought would be just right for this special occasion. She looked down a felt a little worried all of the sudden. What if Nick's mom won't be too happy about him dating a rabbit? She'll most definitely smell it so there was no point in hiding it. Judy bit her lower lip and tried to convince herself that it was a crazy idea and that Mrs. Wilde would be happy Nick found someone. Even if she did almost get him iced and nearly eaten by a Jaguar and also that incident with the train.

She sighed heavily and her ears drooped. "Why did I have to over think this?"

* * *

 **09:30; Tundratown**

Greg parked outside of the hotel he was staying at after having dropped off his first target. Hopefully Candice would put up less of a fight. He scanned the surrounding area and saw a total of three mammals. "It's a little too crowded."

Last night took much longer than he had hoped and now he really felt the pain in his arms from that hit he took. He was worried someone would find out about Mrs. Wilde before he got Candice as well and this would make things even harder. This time things had to go smoothly and he already a simple plan thought out.

He got out of the car and walked inside where he saw his target sitting by her desk as usual. She noticed him come in and her eyes widened in surprise. "Andrew, are you only coming back now?"

Greg smiled tiredly and his exhaustion could be seen in his eyes. "Hard work pays the bills."

He went upstairs before she could say anything else and returned a while later with his largest suitcase. Greg placed it on the floor in front of the counter.

Candice raised an eyebrow. "Are you leaving? And what's that strong smell."

"Yes and that's cologne. I may have over done it." He said sheepishly.

"Yeah, it's pretty-" She turned her head to the side and sneezed. "Ugh, Sorry."

"My bad. Handkerchief?" He offered.

"Thank you." She took it and was about to wipe her nose when Greg saw that she noticed it had a smell.

With the strong cologne he hoped that she couldn't make out what it was, but before she could react another sneeze came and she used it regardless. Candice took in the sent and looked up at Greg who stood there patiently waiting for her to finish. He could tell that she was getting drowsy and looked confused.

"What's on this?" She asked nearly losing her balance.

"Goodnight." Was all he said before he took the handkerchief and pressed it into her nose.

She tried to resist, but simply couldn't stay conscious anymore and fell to the ground. Greg put the handkerchief away and walked over to where she fell. Hopefully no one would come down or in through the door while he tried to fit her in the large suitcase. Last thing he needed was more mammals to hide away.

* * *

Nick and Judy had gotten into a cab after getting ready to visit Nick's mother. Both seemed to get more and more nervous the closer they got to the house. They had their own reasons, but at least they had each other by their side. As they turned into the street Nick grabbed Judy's paw, much to her surprise, and held on tightly. She didn't seem to mind and tightened her grip as well. Once they reach the house and came to a stop the ox that had been at the wheel turned around and looked at the two smaller mammals.

"We're here." He announced.

Nick just nodded and paid the cabbie before getting out and waiting for Judy to join him by his side. The rabbit looked up at him with her ears hanging low behind her back. This time she took ahold of Nick's paw and gave him a reassuring smile when he looked back at her. He breathed in deeply and started to slowly walk to the door. When they got about halfway he bit his lower lip and each step seemed to add new weight on his shoulders. The two finally reached the door.

"Here goes… everything." Nick said softly and knocked on the door.

Their palms were sweating at this point, but they refused to let go as the moments was just to tense for them. However, the moment lasted longer than they expected. Nick raised an eyebrow and knocked again, a little louder this time. After a while there was still no answer.

"That's strange. I made sure we got here on time." Nick said a little confused.

"Maybe she just ran to the store to get something she needed." Judy said and shrugged.

"You're probably right, but I'll give her a call just to be sure." Nick took out his phone and let go of Judy's paw.

He dialed the number and waited for a response, but no one picked up. "Something's not right."

"Come on, Nick, you can't just come to that conclusion after _one_ missed call." Judy reasoned.

"She knows we're coming. Why would she leave without saying something or at least keep her phone nearby?" Nick said and started to look more and more worried.

"Try again."

Before Nick could dial the number a second time a call came through from his mother's number. He sighed in relief and smiled. "See Carrots, I told you there was nothing to worry about."

"You did no such thing!" Judy scolded and pointed an accusing finger at him.

Nick's smile only grew and he answered the phone. "Hey mom, are you home?"

"Nicolas, I-I-" That was all he heard from his mother.

Just by her voice alone he could tell that something had gone wrong and she was in a bad situation. His smile instantly fell and his eyes widened in shock and disbelieve.

"There's your proof that she is still alive. I'm sure you know how this works. No cops apart from yourselves, follow my demands and I promise not to hurt a hair on your mother. I'll let you take it all in and call back in 5 minutes."

The call ended and Nick just stood there with his mouth wide open and the shock evident on his face. Judy became immensely worried and started tugging on his shirt.

"Nick? Nick what's wrong!?"

"M-mom… someone has my mother." He whispered.

* * *

 **Note:** Greg You bastard!Why!?

I understand that the chemical used to knock people out like that doesn't have that immediate effect like it does in the movies, but I thought for story purposes a few rules could be broken. I can't say when the next chapter will be up, so please be patient with me.

Thanks again to my Beta **CAPTAINPRICE79.**

Feel free to fav and/or follow and please do leave a review to let me know what you thought of this chapter. Have a great day/night!


	26. Chapter 26

**Note: Did any of you think this story would ever continue given how long it has been? Neither did I, but here it is... the continuation of a story most of you probably forgot.**

 **What took me so long? I came to a point where I told myself 'I'll get to it tomorrow' and when tomorrow came I said the same thing again. This continued for weeks, months and now a year. I really am sorry about that.**

 **Why have I finally returned? I recently couldn't help but think about it. This story that I left unfinished kept popping into my mind like a song that gets stuck in your head, but you don't know the words so you go look it up in order to sing the song. In the same way I still knew how I wanted this to end, couldn't remember all the fine details and wanted figure it out.**

 **I really do enjoy writing even if I'm not the best at it. So here it is, it's back and it will be finished.**

* * *

Greg hung up the phone and sighed. "Two down, one to go."

He sat in an office chair next to a desk full of papers, stationary and a red mug filled with hot chocolate. Greg drank some of it as he dialed up the next number and waited for an answer.

"Hey Candice, I was just about to call. Are you clocked out yet?"

"She got off a little early today, though I'm glad you didn't call sooner," Greg said rather cheerfully.

"Huh… who is this?"

"Someone your girl doesn't like very much and that you won't like either. Long story short, I have your girl and I have demands, or in this case commands. Follow my instructions and I promise you'll get her back unharmed, if you deviate from them I will be forced to act accordingly. I'll get back to you in five minutes," Greg explained and hung up the phone.

He drank some more of his hot chocolate as he stood up and walked into the next room. The house had definitely seen some harsh years as it was quite poorly maintained. The curtains were closed and only a bit of light pierced them, leaving the room a little dark for the daytime. He entered the living room where his two prisoners sat tide up in chairs with duct tape over their mouths.

"Your son and your boyfriend have been informed of your abduction," he looked over at the arctic fox. "Candice, I understand that you've been in this situation before. Not to worry, I do not intend to harm either of you," he said and sat down on the couch next to them.

Candice had a look of fear and Mrs. Wilde had one of anger.

"See, I know very well that things might not go as planned and even if they do I'll be on everyone's wanted list. Because of this I have a favor to ask you," Greg said and chuckled uncomfortably as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Candice raised her eyebrow while Mrs. Wilde furrowed her brow.

"Now before you mumble no, hear me out." He finished his hot chocolate and placed the mug on the floor. He stared at the ground, his cheery demeanor completely vanished. "The thing is, I didn't bring you hear to harm you in anyway. I brought you here to help me flush out my enemies and free my friends from captivity."

He looked at Mrs. Wilde. "When the day is done and everything has gone to plan you'll be spending quality time with your son and Candice will do the same with her mate."

Greg brought his paw close to Mrs. Wilde's snout and ripped off the duct tape that was preventing her from speaking. She grimaced from the sudden pain and looked at the lynx. "You have quite the nerve."

"My apologies for the way I've treated you both," he said with a nervous smile. "I've started by making enemies of those whom I want as friends to bring justice to those who I referred to as friends, but have now become my enemies."

Mrs. Wilde looked over at Candice. "Do you have any idea what he's going on about?"

Candice shook her head 'no'.

"I don't have the time to explain the whole plan, I just need you to trust me and go along with it," Greg said as he removed Candice's duct tape as well. She yelped at the sudden pain.

"You want me to trust the mammal that kidnapped me and this girl and is now threatening our loved ones?" Mrs. Wilde said with more than just a hint of anger.

"Well when you put it that way it makes me sound like the bad guy. Ugh… I'm running out of time here," he rubbed his forehead as he thought for a moment. "Okay, I need to make a couple more calls in the other room. What anything to drink?"

* * *

Nick sat on the front porch of his mom's house with his head hung low and his right paw rested on it. He stared at the ground in deep thought while Judy hugged him from the side. She didn't really know what to say at this point and decided to comfort her mate in silence. She had seen Nick in danger before and nearly lost him a couple of times, so she could imagine what he must be going through. Then again, he hasn't seen his mother in such a long time and losing her now…

She shook her head and tried to remain positive. They haven't lost yet, not that they were going to. She was certain of that. Her droopy ears straightened out when she heard Nick's phone ring. He had been holding it in his other paw and answered it almost instantly.

"Release Natasha and bring her to me. You have two hours, I'll send you the location."

Before Nick could respond the call was ended. He put it away and looked at Judy. "We have a problem."

* * *

Chris sat in his car with his head and paws resting on the steering wheel. A million thoughts were racing through his mind and all of them were worst case scenarios. ' _How could this happen again? Why does it have to be_ her?'

He couldn't help but feel responsible. It was his damn job. If he managed to get her back he was going to have to look for something else, something that won't put his loved ones at risk. At this moment his phone rang and with an almost blistering speed he picked it up and answered it. "Hello?"

"I understand you've got some decent computer skills. I need you to hack something for me over at the harbor. You need to access a specific computer, you think you can do that?"

"Y-yes, but how do I get to it?" he said worriedly.

"Don't worry about that. I've got a distraction set up. I'll call you in half an hour."

"How do I know she's still okay?" Chris said, fearing the possible answer.

He heard the other mammal sigh. "When I call you again her voice will be the first one you hear."

After that the call was ended Chris remained still for a moment trying to process everything, but shook his head and decided he was wasting time. He started his car and drove off.

* * *

Around ten minutes later Nick and Judy arrived at the precinct. Nick was planning on doing something stupid while Judy tried to convince him to reconsider. He wasn't listening.

"Nick, please don't do this. I know you're desperate, but this _can_ and probably _will_ result in a bad outcome," Judy pleaded.

"I know what I'm doing, Judy," Nick said as he strolled into the building.

He casually walked towards the cells where they temporarily keep the prisoners. Judy couldn't help but feel that someone would catch them before they could even start, or worse, while they were freeing her. Nick was way calmer under pressure than she was.

He stopped before the entrance and looked at Judy. "Stay here and keep an eye out. If anyone wants to come in let me know and distract them,"

"Wait, how am I supposed to-" Nick walked in without allowing her to finish.

"Argh… Niiiick," Judy said while pulling on her ears. ' _This is going to end badly, this is soooo going to end badly."_

The only thing that came close to easing her mind was that it didn't look particularly busy and none of the mammals that were present seemed to notice or acknowledge her. However, every bone in her body was telling her that this was wrong and that they should just inform Chief Bogo about this. Though, Nick would rather risk his job and freedom than his mother's life by involving the police.

What was he even going to do and how was he going to get her out of the building? This and many more questions raced through her mind as she struggled to remain still while she waited for Nick. There was also the fact that Natasha is a dangerous criminal. She bit her lower lip as she thought of the hundreds of ways this could go wrong.

What if Nick got arrested? It would be the exact opposite of what he wanted his mother to see. He had finally come to point in his life where he felt like he could present himself in front of his mother in manner that would make her so proud of him. She buried her head in her paws and shook it side to side.

She couldn't let that happen, she just _couldn't_. Without a second thought she ran after him in hopes to stop him before he did anything stupid. Judy saw him in the distance making his way to Natasha's cell and ran at full speed till she reached him and came to a stop right in front of him. The fox was rather surprised by this action as he looked down at her and saw tears forming in her eyes.

"I can't let you do this, Nick. I can't let you throw away your life and all the progress you've made," she said with a small crack in her voice.

"Judy, I can't afford taking any risks involving the police," Nick said in his defense.

"We _are_ the police! These officers are our friends. Do you really think they won't do whatever it takes to save your mother?" The tears started dripping down her face. "You're not a con-mammal anymore, you don't have to go in it alone or through shady means."

It was getting harder and harder for her to hold back the urge to cry. "I don't want you to end up behind bars for this. I know you want to see her save, but I can guarantee you that she doesn't want to see you in jail either!"

She wiped away what felt like a waterfall on her face and softly said. "There's a better way to do this."

Nick was speechless as he watched her try do dry her face. It was so easy to push aside the thought of any possible aftermath which could occur. He wanted to save his mother more than anything and was willing to risk everything to do so, but maybe he didn't have to. Maybe there was a way that it could all work out. At least Judy had managed to convince him that there were alternative ways to approach the situation.

He stepped closer and placed his paw on her shoulder. "Okay, we'll do it your way."

Judy looked up and into his eyes. She saw fear in them, but also a glimmer of hope. "We're going to get her back."

"I know… You bunnies are so emotional." He said as he rubbed the back of her head.

"I know…" she said and dug her head into his chest.

Nick and Judy took the matter to Chief Bogo and explained the situation, at least as much as they knew about what was going on. Chief Bogo wasted no time in setting up a plan of action and calling in his best officers. There was no room for error and after being informed of the situation the other officers called in for the rescue mission took the matter to heart. They all assured Nick that they would do everything in their power to get her back safe and sound.

* * *

Not everyone considered the support of the ZPD. Chris's paws shook slightly as he turned the steering wheel of his car. He had arrived at the harbor and stopped the car. When he pulled up the parking break a feeling of shock shot through his body, as if someone had reached inside him and ripped out a piece of him.

He gritted his teeth and then let out a scream that revealed his fear and shortly after his anger. He wasn't a fighter. What could he possibly do if things went wrong? Beg and plead for mercy? Things had been going so well and now this happened.

"Why!? Why did it have to happen? _Why_ , just why?" he said as the tears ran down his face.

He was just a normal mammal, no one special or important. He could actually lose her and be completely powerless to stop it from happening. He felt powerless and wished he could be someone actually capable of doing something, even just for today.

He then heard a knock on the passenger door, but didn't see anyone when he looked at it. He gulped and with a shaky paw moved over to open the door. Once he did an angry look fennec fox came into view.

"You Chris?" he said in a surprisingly thick voice for someone his size.

"Y-yes."

"Good, let's get to work," the fennec fox said and was about to walk off.

"Wait, who are you?"

"The distraction, now come on we don't have all day," he said in a rather grumpy manner.

Chris got out of the car and locked it before walking up to the little fox who was now talking to someone on the phone. When he approached him the fennec fox gave him the cellphone without a word. Hesitant at first, he took it and held it by his ear.

"H-hello."

"Chris? Chris is that you? It's me, Candice," he heard the unmistakable voice of the artic fox say.

A feeling of relief overcame his body as if a large weight had been lifted off of him. The fennec fox looked rather sad and guilty as he listened to the conversation. Greg's voice soon came along and told Chris that he had his proof. He explained what had to be done next and reassured him that if he followed the instruction that Candice would be returned without a scratch. He wished him luck and ended the call.

The fox who stood with his arms crossed looked like a kid who had stolen a paw full of sweets and was worried his mom would catch him. He jumped back in surprise after being tapped on the shoulder. "It wasn't me!"

"Huh…?"

"Nothing, let's hurry it up. I have places to be," the little fox said and started to walk to their destination.

* * *

 **Note: For those of you worried that it will take another year to update this I can assure you it won't. I'm already working on the next one and will try to have it up within the next 24hrs.**

 **This isn't important, but feel free to read if you're** **interested:** **So I've actually been dreading uploading this chapter. Re-did it 3 times and still it seamed mediocre at best. I don't want to finish this just for the sake of finishing it, I want to do a decent job. Given that it's been over a year I can't help but feel that a truly spectacular chapter is expected.  
**

 **I feel that most of you will see this as a waste of your time and say "Really? I've waited all this time for that!?" Maybe it's cause it's quite short and nothing significant happens and it's more of a build up (Boy I hope I don't f*** this up).**

 **Still, if you do choose to review this be honest. Good, bad, meh... I can take it, please just remain respectful.**

 **I do hope you all enjoy the rest of your day/night. :)**


	27. Chapter 27

**Note: So it's been a bit more than 24hrs, but here it is. Hope you enjoy**

* * *

There was a strong smell of fish in the air, not surprising given the current location. The area was heavily industrialized with cranes, containers, storage facilities and train tracks stretching for miles. A constant movement of trucks carrying all manner of cargo could be seen moving to and from the harbor. If one was ever bored around here they could make a game out of guessing the cargo and where it would go. However, Chris wasn't here for games or sightseeing, he was here in a desperate attempt to save a life of someone he deeply cared for.

The grumpy looking fox he had now teamed up with told him that the best way to get in was where the train entered the harbor. Security wasn't much of an issue, especially not this time of the day. The real struggle would come when they had to access the building the computer was located in. They would need a key card from a particular mammal. Once they had that the Fennec fox said he would cause the distraction and give him the opportunity to finish the job.

They were both outfitted in construction uniform so that it would look like they belonged here. Although it wasn't common for mammals their size to work her, it wasn't unheard of either. They just had to act natural and keep a calm mind, something Chris was worried he might struggle with. He had to stay focused though, too much was on the line for him to fail.

After successfully making their way into the harbor they strolled along as if they were two average workers simply moving from one point to the next. So far no one seemed to bother them, it even looked like they didn't notice them in the first place. Most of them were sea lions and walruses with a few different species of bears in the mix. They all looked straight head and not down at their feet. This was a good thing.

They came up to a three story office building where a few workers stood outside and talked about work. The two intruders were, however, more focused on the two security guards at the entrance. An obstacle they would have to deal with before going any further.

"How do we get past them?" Chris said with a look of worry on his face.

"You stay here and let me take care of them. Once they're out of the way you get inside," the little fox said in a hush tone.

"I need a key card to get in,"

"I'll get one off the guards and toss it to ya. This is the mammal you're after," he took a small picture out of his pocket and showed it to the jackal.

It was of a female leopard cat. The little fox smirked. "Time to test out those lady skills of yours,"

Before Chris could protest the fennec fox jogged over to the security guards. He watched as the little guy came up to them and seemingly complained about something as he pointed over into the distance. The deer and goat securities got annoyed and gestured him to leave. The fox didn't take too kindly to that and got physical with the goat, grabbing him by the hip and unsuccessfully tried to sake him.

The goat pushed him off and was about to apprehend him when the fox made a break for it. He went running back to Chris with the guards perusing him.

"You'll be hearing from my union for this!" He dropped the key card by Chris's feet as he ran past him, followed by the goat and the deer.

"Get back here!" the goat called out.

Chris picked it up and wasted no time in entering the building. All he knew was that the computer was on the top floor in an office with 'Logistics Manager' written on it. He scanned the area in search of the mammal he was looking for. The key card from the security guard would only get him so far and he needed the one that would give him full access.

His gaze soon fell on the mammal he was looking for. The leopard cat stood by a mini fridge talking one her cellphone. She was dressed in a grey suit with a grey skirt which made her look very intimidating for the jackal. How on Earth was he supposed to get that key card, he didn't even know if he could say 'hi' to her.

"Come on, you can do this," he whispered to himself. "Confidence, just have confidence."

He took a deep breath and let it out again. Chris casually approached the leopard cat who had just finished her call. She didn't appear to be in a good mood. She put her phone away and saw Chris who instantly changed his direction and pretended that he meant to go in a different way.

"You over there, stop for a moment," she said in a commanding tone.

Chris stopped and gulped. This is it, the end of the line. He was about to get caught, lose his girl and probably go to jail. No, he couldn't give up now. There was still a chance, he just had to remain calm and be confident, or at the very least fake it.

He audibly cleared his throat and faced her. "Yes ma'am?"

"Under whom do you work?" she said with a hint of suspicious.

"I… uhm, Jonathan. I take my orders from him," he said in hopes that it be a real mammal who works here, or at least given the size of the place that she wouldn't know about everyone and assume he was telling the truth.

"From mammal resources?"

"Y-yes," Chris said nodding several times. "He sent me here to… uh tell you something important."

Her suspicion was replaced by a more stressful look as she sighed. "Please tell me it's good news."

"Unfortunately, uh… one of the workers unions have some concerns about the… logistics management and are asking for it to be reviewed and for changes to be made," he explained as he rubbed the back of his head and avoided eye contact.

She became worried. "What concerns exactly?"

"I am only the messenger ma'am, I don't have all the details. He asked me to come and… pick up any of the necessary files you may have so he may review it," he said quite pleased with his lie so far.

The leopard cat pinched the bridge between her eyes. "As if things weren't bad enough already. I don't have everything organized, he should have called me sooner, but I'll give you what I can."

Chris assumed she had too much on her plate already to bother confirming if he was telling the truth. He sighed in in relief as they walked to the elevator, which was noticed by the other mammal. "If you came to talk to me why did you try and avoid me?"

Chris's eyes opened wide and he cursed inside his mind. "I… saw that uh… I mean it's just that I don't normally talk to other higher ups and I was not bringing you the best news, so…"

"So you thought I'd yell at you and in my anger get you fired?" she said with a calmer demeanor as she pressed the button to call the elevator.

"Yes, I really need this job," he said thinking of what failing could cost him.

"Don't worry. It's not the best day for me, but getting you fired isn't going to solve anything," she said as the elevator doors opened up and they stepped inside.

Chris tried to keep the talking to a minimum. The last thing he wanted was to back himself up into a corner with his lies. He had gotten this far with a lot of luck and a bit of quick thinking, but mostly luck. The doors opened again on the third floor and they made their way to her office, the exact one he needed to get to. She took out her key card from her suit and swiped it across the scanner to unlock the door. Once unlocked they went inside.

"Just stand there for a moment while I-" she stopped as her phone started to ring. "Give me a minute."

She answered the call. "Hello? What do you mean security has been breached?"

Chris started to panic.

"How did this happen? Who is responsible… for this?" she turned around and saw Chris pointing a gun at her.

"Tell them to search the area and that you'll call them back later," Chris commanded, hoping she wouldn't realize that he was holding a professionally made toy and not an actual weapon. Something the Fennec fox gave him earlier and warned him to only use it when necessary and not against a guard or anyone else with a weapon.

She started to trembled with fear as she nodded. "Keep searching the area, I'll call you back and let you know if I find anything."

She then ended the call and held her paws up in the air. "Please don't shoot."

Chris felt horrible. It wasn't hard to see the absolute fear in her eyes. He knew very well what it was like to be threatened with death by someone you don't know. The jackal would never dream of killing someone, but she didn't know that and as much as he hated it for now he needed her to believe he was a genuine threat.

He closed the door behind him. "Walk to the chair, please."

She did as he said, keeping her paws in the air and breathing heavier than normal.

"Take off your suit, put it on the desk and grab the armrest with both paws," he ordered.

She followed his orders step by step, whimpering a few times in the process and fearing what may happen next. Chris took off his high visibility jacket while trying to keep his toy gun aimed at her constantly. He then used the two clothing items and tied her arms to the chair with one paw and no resistance from her.

"I'm not going to hurt you if you just stay quiet and do as I say," he said feeling the guilt in every bone in his body.

The computer was already on but not logged in. "What is the password?"

"727REC42J, all caps," she said and watched as Chris entered the password.

The home screen loaded up and Chris soon started getting to work. He knew more or less what he was looking for, but wasn't entirely sure where to find. The manager watched as he accessed several sensitive files, however, he wasn't interested in any of them. After a few moments of digging deep into the computers files he came to a file named 'YP Trading'. It looked promising since he was told to look for some similar to this.

He accessed the file and found multiple documents relating to finances, logistics and cargo. Chris looked over at his prisoner. "Who or what is YP Trading?"

"I-I don't know. I'm not the first person to use this computer and some old files and documents are still on it," she said nervously.

Chris opened one of the documents and read through some of the bits that looked important. "These look like payments, off the record payments," he said and opened another document. "The cargo mentioned in this is very vague."

He kept searching until he found a memo. He read through it as fast as he could, trying to get something of importance out of it. He found what he was looking for. "New shipment arrival for Y. Petrov next Tuesday."

He stood straight and shook his head from side to side. "It's Yuri, it's the crime boss who hired…"

Chris looked at the leopard cat with growing anger. "Are you in on this? Are you apart of Yuri's crew?"

"NO! No I'm not! Please, I didn't do anything," she said and started to tremble again.

Chris could she how terrified she was and mentally kicked himself for making her feel that way. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, he looked back at the information on the computer. "This is enough evidence to put him away for good."

He then placed a memory stick into the computer and downloaded all the files. Chris saw another one on the desk and decided to copy the documents on that as well as backup. After that was done he logged off the computer and walked to the door.

"Wait, you can't just leave me like this," the leopard cat called out.

"Oh yeah," Chris said and walked over to her and loosened the suit used to tie up her left paw. "You should manage from there. I'm really sorry about everything I put you through."

He picked up the gun and pulled the trigger causing bubbles to come out. "See, I never meant to hurt you."

The jackal didn't know if saying that was the right thing to do as she looked at him with a confused expression. She seemed to grow angry at the realization that she'd been tricked and led to believe that this could be her last day alive. He knew he might get arrested for this and with the way he felt now he was convinced he deserved it.

"I have to go, they have… I'm sorry," he said and left the room.

Chris wasted no time in making his way out of the building. For all he knew the security might already have his ID and were currently looking for him. Keeping close to the buildings he soon found his way back to the spot he entered and shortly after that back at his car where the Fennec fox was waiting for him.

"How did you get out?" Chris said as he came to stand a few feet away from him.

"I'm small, I could get into places they couldn't follow. You get what we came for?" the fox said and tilted his head as he waited for an answer.

"I think so, it definitely matches what who described," Chris assured him.

"Good, now we gotta go make the drop off. That's the easy part," the fox said with a smirk.

* * *

 **Note: Oh Chris, what have you done.**

 **Have an awesome day/night everyone! :)**


	28. Chapter 28

Nick, Judy and the rest of the officers geared up as they prepared for what was to come. All of them had gathered outside by the parking area and were getting ready to leave. They weren't entirely sure what to expect, but planned for multiple variables. Everyone involved knew that this was a mission that could not fail and made sure they had a full understanding of what each of them had to do.

Nick had been quiet for the most part, only speaking when necessary. His out of character behavior was noticed by everyone, but no one mentioned it as the reason behind it was fairly obvious. However, the bunny that had come to care deeply for him couldn't help but feel the need to reassure him that everything would work out just fine.

She didn't have much in the way of words, so she simply held his paw and squeezed it tightly. Nick's frown morphed into a small smile as he looked at her. Judy returned the smile as the police vehicles around started up.

"Officers Wilde and Hopps," the unmistakable voice of chief Bogo called out. "Are you two ready?"

Nick straightened out his vest and looked up at the chief with the best grin he could muster. "Born ready, chief."

Chief Bogo nodded in understanding and gestured with his hoof for the officers to move out. "We're heading out, move it!"

Nick and Judy entered their own police SUV with Judy taking the wheel. She started the engine and drove off after a few other SUVs and cruisers.

"Why would Yuri want Natasha back?" Nick wonder out loud.

"Huh, what do you mean?" Judy said with a raised eyebrow.

"She provided us with information and I'm sure Yuri is well aware of it. Why go through all this trouble just to get her back?" he explained.

"Maybe she knows more than she told us and Yuri is worried she eventually spill the beans on that as well," she said.

Nick shook his head. "Mmmm… no, it'd be easier just to kill her off. There's something amiss here and I just can't seem to put my finger on it."

"The other officers will be on standby in case we're walking into a trap if that's what you're worried about," Judy said as they took a turn to the left.

"Not exactly, well maybe. Natasha said that she's a gun for hire, right? So what if she's got some friends who aren't particularly happy about her being locked up? What if this has nothing to do with Yuri?"

"You're saying that we may be dealing with completely different mammals here," Judy said.

"It's a possibility, Carrots," Nick said.

* * *

Greg placed his cellphone inside his pocket after just finishing a call with Finnick. He sat on the hood of his car near a warehouse. The same warehouse where Natasha was caught not too long ago. It wasn't easy to get the Fennec fox on board with his plans, but after informing him about the risk his good old friend Nick was facing, Finnick joined without another hint of hesitation. All the pieces had been falling into place so far.

Even though his 'team' consisted of mammals he either manipulated or threatened, they were still meeting all expectations. However, things were far from over and there was a lot that could go wrong. Not that he was particularly worried about his own safety. Instead, he was worried that if he did die it would be in vain and he would have failed in the end.

He soon saw a car approach his position and come to a stop in front of him. The driver brought down the window. It was Chris and Finnick just the mammals he was waiting for. Greg took a pair of keys out of his other pocket and held out his free paw. "Memory stick,"

Chris looked over at Finnick who nodded at him. He then gave the lynx what he asked for and received the pair of keys in return.

"I was worried you'd experience a bit of difficulty getting this and end up arrested for trespassing," he said with a smirk. "The house location for Candice is on the keychain. Finnick, I'd like you to stay behind."

Finnick grumbled and got out of the car. He walked over to Greg and spread his arms out wide. "What do you want now?"

"You'll see soon enough," Greg assured him.

The Fennec fox growled in anger, but otherwise kept quiet. Chris on the other hand drove off in search of the house.

After a bit of driving around Chris finally reached the house address he was given. The house itself looked old and wasn't well maintained, at least not on the outside. There also wasn't anyone around the area that he could see. He gulped as he hurried to get out of his car.

It seemed all too suspicious. He couldn't help but think that something was going to go wrong. Though as he walked up to the house the only fear he really had was that he wouldn't like what he might see. He inserted the key into the lock and opened the door slowly. As he entered he had the urge to call out her name, but decided against it. There was always the possibility that someone else was here.

He peeked into the living room and right there tied to a chair by her wrists and ankles was the arctic fox he had such strong feelings for. She must have heard him come in as she was already looking at the entrance into the room.

A smile formed on her face. "Chris!"

"Candice! Oh Candice I was so worried," he said as he came up to her and embraced her tightly. He then let her go and started to untie her as fast as possible. "Let me get you out of these."

"I knew you'd come," she said as tears started to run down her face. "I knew you'd save me."

"I'll always come for you," he said, momentarily forgetting how useless he had felt at the start of this. He soon finished untying her.

The two of them embraced each other once more before Chris insisted they leave. He was still worried something bad would happen and felt an urgent need to get out of there. Candice was no doubt extremely happy and relieved to have come out of that situation. Although she still frowned as they got further away from the house. She opened her mouth to say something, but decided not to.

* * *

Nick and Judy arrived at the warehouse after having established a small base of operations nearby. Seeing the building again made Nick even more convinced that this wasn't Yuri's doing. They put Natasha into the car by their base of operations where the rest of the team was waiting on standby. She was silent throughout the short trip, which Nick preferred.

They entered the warehouse through one of the open truck sized garage doors. The first thing they noticed when they came to a stop was how all the crates had been moved to the other side of the building and just in front of them was a small table and chair where a lynx sat reading the newspaper. The two officers exchanged looks before exiting the vehicle.

Nick took a few steps closer. "Where is my mother?"

"Not here, that wouldn't be safe," the lynx replied as he put the newspaper down on the table.

Judy raised an eyebrow at his statement. "What do you mean by that?"

"Please, come closer and let me explain," he said and spread his arms out in a welcoming gesture.

Nick placed his paw on his taser. "We're not falling for any tricks."

Greg sighed. "You know, I really do try to simplify things and take the path of least resistance, but nobody ever trusts me."

"I can't imagine why," Nick said with a hint of anger.

"Your mother is fine. Let Natasha out of the car and I'll give you your mother's location. She doesn't even need to come over to my side, just let her out," Greg said with a growing impatience.

"How many are you? I know you can't be working alone," Nick said as he become a bit suspicious of the way Greg was handling the situation.

"You are only making this more complicated than it needs to be. Just open the door, that's it and I'll give you the location," Greg said.

"Wait, that doesn't give you much of a guarantee. You're purposefully giving up your advantage, why?" Judy said and grabbed hold of her taser.

Before the lynx could answer Judy's ears perked up as she heard a few cars coming towards them. Three black SUV's entered the building and a bunch of armed mammals stepped out of them. Nick and Judy turned around to face them and pulled out their weapons. Nick pressed a small button on his utility belt as the bigger mammals stepped closer, unfazed by their small Tasers.

"Posmotrite, chto u nas yest'. Lisa i krolik, pritvoryayas' politseyskimi(Look what we have here. A fox and bunny pretending to be cops)". One of the wolves said.

The others snickered at his remark. "Excellent job little lynx. Yuri would be very happy with this."

"He may not be too happy about what's going to happen next," Greg said with a nervous smile and a forced laugh.

More cars were heard coming into the area.

"Eto politsiya( It's the police)!" One of them shouted.

"You double crossed us!" the wolf said in an angry tone. "You were working for the police."

"Judy, get behind those crates now!" Nick order and the two of them both jumped behind the crates as the wolves, polar bears and a Muskox started to open fire.

Greg had also made his way behind the crates. "No no no, Natasha. Dammit!"

* * *

 **Note: Things Might get a little messy.**

 **I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Thank you to Matt** **Dyrdahl for helping me with the final edits to make it more presentable.  
**

 **Let me know what you thought about this in the reviews and have a fantastic day/night.**


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